Kissing Friday the mature version
by jennyelf
Summary: When Hermione tells Harry about an unusual British custom, what will he do with the knowledge? How will it change his relationship with Ginny Weasley forever?
1. Chapter 1 The act

A/N: Slightly different version of my story Kissing Friday. This is rated M for sexual situations. This really is a "puffy" piece. :D There will be another chapter coming, but I must work on CoP first.

Kissing Friday

February 5, 1997

Hermione Granger held her book _Unusual British Holiday Customs _a little higher in front of her in order to block out the sight of her best friend falling all over her roommate. She scowled before turning back to the page in front of her.

"Hermione, must you read at the table? Can't you at least talk to me?" Harry Potter, her other best friend, pleaded with her as he glanced around them. "I mean," he lowered his voice so only she could hear him, "I know we're surrounded by couples and it's coming up on that dreaded day, but please, make an effort for me. I get bored just stuffing food in my mouth. I'm not Ron, you know."

"I know. I'm sorry, Harry," she apologized. She placed her book down on the table. "It's just that this book is really fascinating. Did you know that there is such a holiday known as Plough Monday? It's the first Monday after Twelfth Night."

"Plough Monday? What did they bless the ploughs or something?" Harry responded with a puzzled look.

"Exactly." Hermione wrinkled her forehead over the fact that Harry figured it out so quickly. "Well, at least in medieval times they did, although it was on Sunday it was blessed."

Before she could continue on, Harry interjected, "Are there any other interesting customs like that in the book?"

To answer him, she picked it back up and turned back to the page she had been on. She skimmed the next few pages before gasping and looking scandalized.

Harry quickly asked, "What? What is it?"

Hermione whispered, "I can see why that particular holiday went out of fashion." She shut the book and stuffed it in her bag.

"Oh, come on, Hermione. Tell me. _Please_," Harry pleaded.

Hermione shook her head and finished eating. Harry continued to beg her to tell him about what she had read all through the remainder of their classes. While everyone else was working on practicing their new charm that Professor Flitwick had taught them, Harry cast a Muffliato so he could continue working on Hermione without getting in trouble.

"Hermione," Harry said in a sing-song voice, slightly reminiscent of the Weasley twins. "Hermione. Please tell me about that holiday." After several minutes of continuous pleading to her back as she tried to work on her charm, Hermione turned around in a huff.

"Fine," she hissed. "There is an unusual custom that actually is no longer in fashion called Kissing Friday. There, are you happy? Can I go back to working on my charm now?"

"Kissing Friday? So what is the custom? I mean, what kind of custom could there be about kissing? Wait, I got it. Kissing actually refers to rubbing noses and that can only happen on Fridays, right?" Harry looked truly perplexed over this idea. Hermione's inner nature warred with herself. She wanted to share her knowledge, but her sense of responsibility as a prefect made her question letting anyone know about this as the custom could raise lots of problems if some of the boys in the school found out exactly how it worked. As she decided what to do, she listened with half an ear as Harry muttered all sorts of theories about what "Kissing Friday" was. With a shake of her head, she pulled out her book. Turning to the page, which described the custom, she handed it to Harry.

Harry read it aloud. " 'Kissing Friday is the Friday after Ash Wednesday. A day in the year when boys can kiss any girl without fear of rejection or punishment. In Leicestershire, if the girl does not allow the boy to kiss her, then he is allowed to pinch her behind.' So wait, does this mean a boy can kiss _any_ girl regardless of whether they are in a relationship or not?"

Hermione worried her bottom lip. "Well, that's my take on it."

"But why wouldn't you tell me? What is so dangerous about this? Wait, when is Ash Wednesday?" Harry asked.

"Next Wednesday," Hermione said very softly, hoping that Harry wouldn't be able to hear her. Harry's face froze in shock.

"So you're telling me that 'Kissing Friday' is Valentine's Day?" Harry queried.

"Uh-huh. Now do you understand why I don't want anyone to know about this. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if boys knew that according to custom they could kiss someone's girlfriend without being punished?" Hermione's eyes narrowed as she noticed that Harry wasn't really paying her any attention. In fact, knowing him like she did, she would say that he was planning something.

Behind both of them, a boy just smiled.

As the news of the custom made its rounds of the boys' rumor mill, Harry debated internally. _Should he kiss Ginny?_ The monster in his chest purred at the idea. _But she's dating Dean_, his nobility streak argued back. _I can't get in trouble as I can claim that it's Kissing Friday. Still, Dean's your roommate. Plus, what would Ron say?_ He had almost decided not to do anything, but one final thought cropped into his mind. _How often does Kissing Friday happen on Valentine's Day? It's positively providential. You've got to show your Gryffindor courage._ Making his decision, he started plotting as to where he would kiss her.

February 7, 1997

At the brush of something against her hair, Ginny Weasley rolled over only to find a huge pair of black eyes looking at her. She startled and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. Blinking rapidly several times, she looked at the big barn owl that was perched on the edge of her bed.

"How did you get in here?" she whispered as she didn't want to wake her roommates. The black eyes just blinked at her as the owl stuck its foot out towards her hand. Puzzled, Ginny untied the package and watched as the white-faced bird hopped off the bed and out the curtains. She sat up and wondered who would have sent her something that wouldn't have been delivered with the rest of the mail. _Apparently, it's not from my family as that would have come with Errol._ _It better not be from Dean as we made the deal not to get each other presents for Valentine's. So who could it be?_, she thought.

Ginny gently peeled back the plain brown paper, ready for anything that might come out. This reaction was of course the result of living with the twins for too long. As she opened the lid very slowly, a small golden ball flew out. Instinctively, she reached out with her right hand and snatched it out of the air. Once she touched it, the ball fell open in two pieces. Lying in the middle of the snitch was a small Gryffindor lion, which stood and walked to the edge of her palm looking up at her.

"Oh, aren't you darling?" she murmured to the feline. Looking into the box, she saw a piece of parchment. Ginny lowered her hand to allow the lion to walk onto her pillow and watched as it yawned and curled into a ball. Reaching into the box, she pulled out the sheet.

_Ginny, _

_This lion is a reminder of how great a Quidditch player you are as it comes in the snitch that you caught to win us the cup last year. _

_Your secret admirer_

_My secret admirer? So who could that be? Must be Gryffindor by what it says in the message. Hmm, _Ginny thought. She went through all the boys in Gryffindor; yet other than Dean, she couldn't come up with anybody who would do this. After all, she was dating Dean. Why would anyone else do this? Unable to figure anything out, Ginny decided to watch everyone closely to see if she could determine who the admirer was.

Over the next week, Ginny received some sort of gift each day. One day, she got a snack from one of the house-elves while she was studying. The day before Valentine's, she received another gift. This one was a pair of Chaser gloves. She puzzled over that gift as she was still uncertain as to who it could be. However, there was another note.

_Ginny, _

_If you liked your gifts, please meet me tomorrow after your last class at the Room of Requirement._

_Your secret admirer_

Ginny normally met up with Dean after that class, so she started devising a way to pacify Dean while discovering who this admirer was. She knew who she wanted it to be, but she didn't want to get her hopes up as she didn't think it could possibly be him.

February 14, 1997

Ginny spent an exceptionally long time packing up as she was still trying to come up with a reasonable excuse to hang out with Dean in the common room like normal. She slowly made her way out the classroom door. As she expected, Dean was lounging against the wall opposite her class. He pushed himself off the wall when he saw her.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Dean asked, puzzled.

"Oh, I was just thinking about things," Ginny responded, smiling brightly at him. He grabbed her hand as they started up towards the Gryffindor common room. Once they reached the portrait hole, Dean made as if to assist her in when she turned to him, "Really? Do you think I have to have help? Come on, Dean. I'm not a damsel in distress, you know." Brushing past him, she stormed through the common room up to her dorm to drop off her books.

Coming back down, she noticed that Dean had found them a place on a couch. Ginny winced as she thought about what she was getting ready to do, but she stopped short when Parvati sat down beside Dean. Ginny noticed that Parvati put her hand high on Dean's thigh before leaning over to him. Dean swooped in and kissed Parvati. She was stunned to see her boyfriend kiss another girl. Ginny snapped out of her stupor to go marching over to the couch.

"How dare you! Are you not supposed to be _my_ boyfriend? And yet, you were kissing her!" Ginny slapped Dean before turning to rush out the portrait hole.

Dean yelled after her, "But it's Kissing Friday!"

Ginny furiously marched towards the Room of Requirement. _Kissing Friday, indeed! What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'll show him Kissing Friday! Oh, I hope my admirer is still in here_, she thought_. _Luckily, there was a large brown door leading to the room, which meant that someone was in there waiting. Ginny crossed to the door and turned the knob. As the door opened, Ginny walked in and was scanning the room for signs of anyone when the door closed behind her. A blindfold was tied over her eyes. She started to panic until the person took her in his arms and whispered "It's okay, Gin." Then she knew who it was. How could she not recognize that voice? She tipped her head up towards the sound of his voice.

Lips gently touched hers as the mysterious boy gathered her closer to him. Ginny felt weak at the knees. She couldn't believe that she was being kissed by the one that she had longed for after all this time. His lips caressed hers open as his hands roamed her back. He started walking her backwards towards the wall.

She didn't notice when her body slammed against the wall as the feelings pervading her body from the touch of his hands overwhelmed all her other senses. A small moan escaped her as his lips journeyed down her face to her neck. She grabbed his hands and moved them to her breasts. At each brush of his hands, her body erupted into flames. But she refused to let him be the only one to touch. Ginny pulled his face back to hers before reaching up with her left hand and tangling it in the soft hair that she had always wanted to touch. Her right hand trailed down his face and across his chest. She felt his heart beat faster as she changed the angle of their kiss in an effort to deepen it. Her body acting on instinct pressed tightly against his. This time she heard a groan escape his lips.

It was then that she noticed something hard pulsating against her belly. For a moment, she was shocked to think that she could cause that type of reaction, so her lips stopped moving. The boy, who she still could not see, started to pull away from her, but she deftly caught his shirt in her right hand, much like she caught the snitch a few days before while her left reached up and pulled off the blindfold. Warm brown eyes met startled green ones. Smiling as her eyes confirmed what she had thought, Ginny tugged on him, bringing his lips crashing back down on hers as their bodies realigned against one another.

Harry, at first, seemed surprised, but quickly started responding to her insistent kisses. He ran his hands down Ginny's sides to pull her legs up and around his waist. She hooked her feet behind his butt and shifted most of her weight to where her back was resting against the wall. This position of course caused Ginny's uniform skirt to hike up allowing Harry's hands to start stroking their way from her knees up her thighs. She shivered at the contact. Her hands ran across his chest under his robes. She started to push his robes off his shoulders, only to realize that she was wrapped around him too tightly to get them off. Unhooking her feet, she slowly slid her legs down Harry's. He let out a whimper from the loss of contact that turned into a growl as her damp knickers remained pressed against his throbbing erection.

Stepping back for a moment, she swept his robes off his shoulders and down his arms. Next, she yanked his shirt up and over his head. His glasses became entangled in the shirt and came off, so she reached in and grabbed them. Harry reached for them, but she held them behind her and whispered, "There's a finder's fee."

"Anything. I'll do anything to get them back," Harry whispered back as she slipped the glasses on top of her head. She unbuttoned her shirt and pulling the ends out of her skirt, slipped it off her body. Grabbing his hands, Ginny placed one on her bra strap and the other on her knee as she raised her leg to get back in the position she had been in. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hopped up to wrap her legs back around him. She trembled at the feel of his still clothed penis, long and hard against her most erotic spot.

Harry's hands slipped under her clothing. The one by her bra slipped the strap off her shoulder so that his mouth had access to trail down her neck and shoulders headed towards her breasts. The other made its way under her skirt pulling it up to get rid of that layer of clothing between their most intimate areas. It stroked her legs until it reached the barrier of her knickers. After a moment of hesitation, Harry slid his fingers under the band and splayed his hand across her bare belly, rubbing his thumb closer and closer to her curls.

For a moment, Ginny reveled in the sensations that Harry was creating in her body- feelings that she had never felt before. But then, she wanted to touch him in the worst way. Her hands started at his shoulders. One made its way down his bicep, enjoying the play of his muscles as he helped support her weight. The other crept down his chest, circling and playing with his nipples. The hand on the bicep jumped to just above where her legs were wrapped around him. She stroked his bare skin right above his waistband to his trousers until Harry readjusted them.

He took his hand from her breasts to cup her bottom in an effort to lift her higher so that his mouth could have better access to her breasts. Ginny arched her back towards his mouth as his tongue darted out to lick her nipples. She clenched her thighs around Harry's waist, only to feel his belt buckle dig into her belly above Harry's other hand. Her hands ran down his torso to work at getting the belt off. Pulling it through the loops as Harry worked his way from one breast to the other with his mouth, Ginny threw the belt to the side. She started to work on the button to his trousers when his thumb brushed against a very sensitive area, causing her to startle. At her jump, Harry's hand jerked away and tore her knickers on one side. His hand retreated to cup her backside along with his other one.

Ginny unhooked her feet yet again as she realized that there were too many barriers between her and Harry. He growled as she broke contact with him. To pacify him, she slid her hand against his skin down his pants and inside his boxers. Reaching with a fingertip to circle the head of his penis, she planted her feet so she could easily get rid of the now torn panties. She stepped out of the side that wasn't torn before returning to the task at hand--getting Harry out of those trousers. Ginny unzipped the trousers with one hand as she continued to fondle him with the other. She looked up at his face and saw that his head was thrown back with his eyes closed. His breathing had become even more labored than before. Releasing him to push his trousers and boxers down his legs, she kissed her way down his belly to the hard length in front of her. As she coaxed him to step out of his clothes, she licked the tip, which had a small bead of moisture on top. Hearing a groan come from him, she opened her mouth and took him in.

After a couple of bobs up and down, she slid him out of her mouth to kiss her way back up his chest. Harry yanked her up so that their chests were pressed firmly together. The feel of his chest muscles against her sensitized nipples was electrifying. Slamming his mouth back down on hers, his fingers delved into wet, slick areas. He rubbed his fingers over different parts and always came back to the ones that elicited moans from her. Ginny could barely stand up as her knees went weak at the brush of his thumb over her clitoris. When his finger made its way into her as he continued rubbing his thumb, she collapsed against him. Grabbing at her legs, he wrapped them around his torso positioning her opening right above his penis. Ginny kissed Harry long and deep as she slowly guided him inside. She figured that by taking it slow she could become accustom to his size. Allowing her to set the pace, Harry used his hands to cup her bottom to help support her weight.

As she felt him slide inside, she closed her eyes to revel in the feel of him. She had had no clue that this would feel so good. Feeling pressure build inside her, she started to move up and down, causing Harry to moan. Squeezing her butt, Harry started to move with her, thrusting. The pressure continued to build in her belly as her back scraped up and down against the wall from the movement of their bodies. Finally, after a particularly hard and deep thrust from Harry, the pressure imploded, leaving Ginny feeling like her body had shattered into a thousand pieces. Harry sank down to the floor, holding Ginny close as he was still inside. He nuzzled her hair as they both tried to catch their breath.


	2. Chapter 2 The talk

A/N: This is unbetaed. I will change it once I get it back from my beta deadwoodpecker. Thanks to her for everything she does to help me. Thanks to all who read and to those who also take the time to review!

Chapter Two- The Talk

Once the raging hormones had cleared his system, Harry glanced down at Ginny. He was shocked by what had just happened and he couldn't help but stare. Her hair rained over her shoulders covering her breasts like Lady Godiva's supposedly did on her famous ride. He watched as it moved in time with her breathing. Harry couldn't see much else from this position, but he felt her cuddle closer as if trying to merge into one body.

"Um, Gin?" Harry wanted to get her attention, but not at the same time.

"Hmm?" Ginny tried to lift her head, but it fell back into the hollow between Harry's jaw and shoulder. How was he supposed to take that reaction? Was she asleep? No, she couldn't be, right? It was about this time that Harry realized exactly how cold and hard the floor was on his posterior. But now he had to figure out how to move to some place more comfortable.

"Ginny? Don't you think we should talk?" Harry asked almost in a whisper, forgetting that there was no one around to hear them.

Ginny picked her head up from his chest, looked him square in the face and smiled the most beautiful smile Harry had ever seen. Harry had a fleeting thought that if anyone epitomized the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, it would be Ginny right now. He tucked her hair behind her ears and just stared into her warm brown eyes. How had he missed how beautiful she was? His thumbs softly stroked her cheeks. Her skin was so soft. His eyes were drawn to her lips. Those lips were just made to be kissed. He couldn't resist and leaned down to gently place a kiss on them.

"Harry? I'm not dreaming, right? I mean, this is really you and not some Polyjuiced impostor?" Ginny looked incredulous while questioning. Harry grinned at her while stroking her jaw with one hand.

"Yes, Gin. I'm really me. Let's see- a way to prove it to you." He thought about it for a minute before saying, "Okay, I told you that both Riddle and the Basilisk were taken care of in the Chamber of Secrets while we were on our way to join up with Ron."

Ginny pinched herself before looking up at Harry again. Her mouth dropped open. Harry didn't know what to think at this. He took in every detail about her face and even swept his gaze down that very delectable body she had. Man, our robes hide things well. Judging by the look on her face, Ginny was very confused. She stood up and slipped on her robes before turning around to face Harry, who had taken a moment to slide on his trousers.

"Harry, did you lure me here to do this?" Ginny's forehead was scrunched as it always did when she was trying to figure things out. Harry stood to rub his thumb over the crinkles to straighten them out.

"I didn't intend to do _this_. I was planning on kissing you and leaving with you still blindfolded. But once I started kissing you, I couldn't stop myself from tasting your skin on your neck. Did you know that it drives me wild when your hair from your ponytail caresses your neck when you fly? Then you placed my hands on… well, your chest and my brain just kind of clicked off. I guess you could say my hormones took over." Harry ran his hand back and forth through his hair during this spiel. "Gin, what about Dean?"

"Dean who? Oh, you mean the jerk who was kissing Parvati when I left the common room? He was history the moment his lips were placed on someone else's. He just doesn't realize it yet." Harry smirked at this answer and wanted to just say 'good riddance', but why would Dean be so stupid as to kiss someone other than Ginny? His eyes widened as he had a sinking feeling that he knew why. But how did the others find out?

"Gin, did Dean say why he was kissing Parvati?" Harry almost visibly cringed waiting for the answer. He was glad that Ginny was not paying close attention to him when she started ranting about Dean's response.

"He said some nonsense about it being Kissing Friday, whatever in the hell that means." Ginny started to pace around the room, continuing unaware that Harry was not even remotely paying her any attention. Harry had frozen when he heard Ginny's answer. Hermione was going to kill him. She was utterly going to kill him, but he had no idea how anyone had found out about Kissing Friday. Thinking about Hermione led to him thinking about Ron, who was going to kill him for another reason entirely. Ron, who was so protective over Ginny ever since second year, was going to hex his bits into nothingness for what he had done. How in Merlin's name would he ever explain what had just happened to his best mate? Better not explain. Maybe he should start making escape plans in case he needed them. Carry his invisibility cloak with him at all times and his Firebolt shrunken as well.

Ginny broke through these thoughts with a snap of her fingers in front of his face. "Oh, so you've finally decided to rejoin me here in the Room of Requirement, have you? What are you thinking about, Potter?" Harry looked at her to realize that he had made a huge mistake thinking that his murder would only take place once he returned to the common room. Her hair was swirling around her body as she looked through narrowed eyes at him. It was such a cliché, but she really was so cute with all that emotion brilliantly displayed on her face.

He stepped up to her and framed her face with his hands. Lowering his lips to hers, he whispered, "How incredibly beautiful you are." After a few seconds of kissing her, Ginny pushed him away from her.

"That doesn't get you out of explaining, Harry. You were thinking about something when I mentioned Kissing Friday. What?" Ginny questioned him.

"Well," Harry looked away to avoid seeing how she was going to take this information. He didn't want to know if this would change her feelings about Dean. "Kissing Friday is a Muggle holiday where boys can kiss girls on the Friday after Ash Wednesday and not get in trouble."

"Oh, really? And just how is that supposed to work?" Ginny asked in a mocking tone. Harry glanced at her to see that her arms were crossed with that glorious hip of hers poked out to the side and her foot tapping.

"Well, apparently, the guy can just kiss a girl regardless of whether she is in a relationship or not. He's not supposed to get in trouble and he's not supposed to be rejected either." Harry felt like he was giving her a reason to go back to Dean, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Yet, he couldn't keep her from Dean if that was who she really wanted. Harry didn't want any sort of lie, even those by omission between them.

Ginny marched over to him and grabbed his face between her hands. She looked him straight in the eyes- brown scrutinizing green. "Did you really think that you had to wait until a day you couldn't get in trouble or be rejected?"

"What?" Harry's mind was reeling. Did she just say what he thought she did? He wanted to shake his head to clear it, but her hands were too firmly attached to his cheeks for him to move. He felt like a Quaffle she was defending from the other team.

"Harry James Potter, did you _really_ think that I would reject you? I've always had feelings for you." Ginny's face was full of wonder and bewilderment at the same time. She backed away clearly unsure of how he was going to take this response.

"But…But Hermione said you gave up on me." Harry was truly puzzled by this turn of events. Here he was thinking that she was going to go back to Dean and now she's got feelings for him?

"Harry, I got tired of waiting for you to figure out that I'm a girl. So I decided to have a little fun until you came to your senses. At least I hoped you would come to your senses." Ginny had started fidgeting with a bracelet she had on her wrist. Harry reached out to grab her hand.

"Gin, I'm sorry that I didn't treat you like a girl. Honestly, I knew you were one, but I wouldn't have known what to do with you any way."

"I think your actions today belie that opinion, Harry." Harry felt the heat creep up his neck and to his cheeks. Ginny started to giggle at the sight. He ducked his head until Ginny forced it up.

"I'm sorry to embarrass you. Will you continue please?" she asked quietly.

"I was just going to say that I've realized that you were a girl all year. Well, really since the end of last year. You were so brave at the Department of Mysteries. While I was focused on finding and saving Sirius, I couldn't help but notice how… well, sexy you were wielding your wand and fighting. But then on the train ride back, you mentioned that you had chosen Dean. So what was I supposed to do? This year you have been dating Dean this whole time. I couldn't come between you," Harry said in a rather emotionless voice.

"So what changed? Why now? You can't expect me to believe that it is simply because you discovered Kissing Friday." Ginny tilted her head and looked at Harry with a penetrating look on her face.

Harry looked away and answered, "Actually it is. Hermione discovered the custom a little over a week ago. I figured then that I could kiss you and if Dean asked me about it, I could use the excuse of Kissing Friday. I could also use the excuse with you if you found out who I was, but I was really trying to plan it so that you wouldn't."

"But wouldn't the girl need to know the custom in order for there to be no rejection or punishment?" Ginny wondered aloud.

"Like I told you before, I was planning on kissing you and leaving you blindfolded. You wouldn't have been able to reject or punish because you wouldn't have known who it was," Harry said rather morosely.

"Ah," Ginny responded with upraised eyebrows. "So what now?"

"I don't know. Are you going back to Dean now that you know about Kissing Friday?" Harry answered.

"No," Ginny scoffed. "For all I know, he's been using it as an excuse to kiss anyone in the common room. I don't want to date someone like that."

"So then I guess you wouldn't want to date me as I used it as an excuse to kiss you." Harry continued to look at the floor with his head down.

Ginny's eyes widened. "That's not what I said. Harry, look at me. Don't you understand how incredibly wanted you made me feel today? You set all of this up to be able to kiss me, little Ginny Weasley, your best mate's sister. Answer me this- have you kissed anyone else today?"

"No," Harry shook his head.

"Why not?" Ginny said with a calculating look as well as a smirk on her face.

"Well, I don't want to kiss anyone else," Harry felt repugnance at the very idea of kissing anyone else. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"And that's why I want to date you. Because you want me and only me, unlike others who shall remain nameless." Harry's head snapped up at this. He knew that he probably had a stupid look on his face, but he could not contain his amazement. He felt a smile spread across his face before his next thought had it sliding off again.

"Um, Gin, what shall we do about Dean and Ron, though? I mean, I don't think either one will take this very well." Ginny seemed to think it over for a minute before getting a slightly mischievous look in her eyes and smile on her face. She nodded her head as she bit her lip apparently going over her plan.

"Gin, what have you come up with?"

"Well, we just keep this relationship under wraps until it's time to go public. I mean, we can sneak around, right?" she said with a bright smile. Seeing that particular smile had Harry contemplating resuming their earlier activities.

"Why, certainly, we can," Harry said before taking her in his arms and kissing her once more.


	3. Chapter 3 the kiss

A/N: I know rather short. But next chapter will be back to H/G and their plans for sneaking around.... But I had to include my second favorite couple. :) Thanks to Jonelle, who helped me come up with this idea and to Ella, who is a fantastic beta.

Chapter 3- The Kiss

Hermione Granger sighed heavily as she sat on her bed in her dorm room. She had pulled the curtains tight so that Lavender and Parvati wouldn't see her brooding. Normally, she left that pastime to Harry, but today being Valentine's Day, well, she didn't even really want to think about it. Yet, she didn't want to go downstairs to the Common Room on the off chance that Ron would be there with _her_. Honestly, she thought she had given Ron all the right signals, and really, how thick could a boy be? But still he had chosen _Lavender_? Don't get her wrong, Lavender was a Gryffindor and her roommate. She got along fairly well with her considering the fact that Lavender was a lot like the girls who teased Hermione unmercifully when she was in primary school. Maybe it was the fact that they at least had magic in common, but Hermione wasn't so upset that Lavender was seeing Ron. After all, it just showed that Lavender had good taste.

No, the person she was really upset with was none other than Ron Weasley. She had thought that he would have figured out that the way they snapped at each other was a form of foreplay, but no, apparently he's just too dense. Oh, and let's not forget Ron's jealous behaviour at the Yule Ball. Did that wake him up? No.

Tears started to slide down her face, but she hastily wiped them from her cheeks and took a deep breath. Hermione decided that she had to get out of that room. Maybe she could go to the library or go on patrol. She knew that Harry had snuck off somewhere right after last class, so he would not help distract her. She needed to do something to get her mind off Ron.

Determined, she crossed to the loo, splashed water on her face before pulling out a towel and blotting her face dry. Taking a look at herself in the mirror-- something she generally avoided doing--, she thought that no one could really tell what she had been doing up here. Besides, no one would get close enough to spot the slight red rims of her eyes. Straightening her uniform blouse, she opened the door and headed down the stairs.

After a quick glance up to view the room before looking back at her feet to make sure she didn't miss a step, Hermione skidded to a stop. Her eyes widened as she saw boys roaming the room kissing girl after girl and the girls were just letting them. Well, this would just have to stop! Clearing her throat, she called for attention.

"Everyone! Everyone! Please listen up." Hermione fairly yelled to get heard above the din. No one stopped or even seemed to pay her any mind. Straightening her back, she cast a quick _Sonorous_ on herself before trying to get their attention once more.

"Boys, while yes, it is the holiday known as Kissing Friday that custom has not been celebrated since the nineteen-forties. So please, stop before I have to go to Professor McGonagall," Hermione told the room. She cast a _Quietus _at her throat, even though she saw boys picking up right where they left off. Her mind was nearly frozen in panic as she didn't know how she was going to deal with this. She let out a small scream as she silently cursed one Harry James Potter. "I knew this would happen. Oh, I'm going to kill Harry," she muttered under her breath.

Hermione stepped off the stair and right into Ron. She stumbled slightly, causing Ron to grab her arms to help her balance once more. She glanced up at him slightly before blushing and saying, "Sorry."

"Hermione, did you just say something about Harry? Do you know where he is?" Ron asked. She looked into his incredibly blue eyes. She didn't know why Ginny thought green eyes were so great, blue ones could just melt your heart. For a moment, she forgot what he asked her, but then her brain powered up.

"I don't know where the prat is and he better not let me find him. Or he'll have worse to deal with than some birds circling his head," Hermione said, her eyes flashing.

"What's happened? Why are you mad with him?" Ron seemed sincere, but she had had enough of his indifference toward her.

"Why? What do you care? It's not like you've spent any time with us the past few months. I mean, really, why don't you just go find Lavender?" Hermione lashed out, uncaring about the scene she was creating. Ron simply grabbed her hands, which were flying around and trapped them between their bodies as he stepped closer to her. She let out a shocked gasp. The heat that was rolling off his body ignited a fire in her. She knew that she must have looked like a guppy out of water, but the feelings that were rushing through were like none she had experienced before. She fought to get her hands free, but Ron was too strong.

"Bloody hell, Hermione. Calm down. Just tell me why you're upset with Harry. He didn't stand you up or anything, did he?" Ron said quietly and calmly. If she had been thinking straight, she would have thought that a Ron who was calm was a dangerous one. At this point, however she was beyond mad. How dare he insinuate that she and Harry were a couple and that Harry would have stood her up!

"Ronald Weasley, are you implying that I'm the kind of girl who would get stood up? Besides, I have never thought of Harry like that. He's like my brother. I honestly can't believe you! I'm mad with him because all of this" she tried to gesture to the room, but Ron still refused to let go of her hands, "is his fault. He had to tell everyone about the custom that was mentioned in my book. Let go of my hands, Ron! I have to go see Professor McGonagall." Her chest heaving in anger, she was about to let loose some of the epithets that she had heard Ron and some of the older boys use when Ron pulled her up on her toes. Startled, her mouth fell slightly open as Ron descended his head to lay his lips on hers. He had let go of her hands, but it slipped Hermione's notice as her eyelids fluttered closed. Without being aware of what it was she was doing, her hands crept up his chest to encircle Ron's neck. As his lips massaged hers, she felt his tongue creep out to gently prod her lips. She slammed them closed and pulled back. What the …

Forgetting about everything but what had just happened, Hermione backed away, tripping on the stairs. When Ron tried to help her, she scrambled back out of his reach. She couldn't get her mind to work. Why was Ron doing this to her? He had Lavender. He had made his choice very clear. Why would he kiss her? She raced up the stairs to her room, ignoring Ron's desperate pleas for her to come back.


	4. Chapter 4 Aftermath

A/N: In honor of Kissing Friday, which ended for me here about twenty minutes ago, here's the next chapter. This is unbeta-ed, so please forgive me!

Kissing Friday Chapter 4- Aftermath

Hermione ran into Ginny on the way down the stairs going to breakfast. The diminutive redhead was pulling her hair up into a ponytail as she came out of her dorm room.

"Morning, Ginny! How was your Valentine's yesterday?" Hermione asked, praying that Ginny wouldn't ask her about hers. She failed to notice the blush that crept up Ginny's cheeks.

"Um… It was fine. Why? What have you heard?" Ginny sounded extremely nervous to Hermione, who looked at her friend closer. Ginny's eyes were darting around.

"I was just wondering how you were handling the fact that Dean was kissing other girls in the common room. Are you okay?" Hermione thought she detected a small sigh, but then Ginny spoke rather assertively as she pulled Hermione down the stairs.

"That creep is getting dropped like a hot Quaffle. He just doesn't know it yet. I've got to come up with a way to do it subtly. Or do I? Well, we'll just see what happens," Ginny declared. Her brown eyes turned towards Hermione with a speculative look. "And how, pray tell, did you know about Dean? Hermione Granger, were you part of the crowd kissing yesterday?" Ginny let out a gasp as Hermione ducked her head to hide her face, which was heating up. "So who did you kiss? Come on, tell me!"

By this point, the girls had made it to the common room where Harry and Ron were waiting for Hermione. Harry and Ron stood up and made their way towards the portrait hole. Hermione noticed that Ron was avoiding looking at her whereas Harry couldn't take his eyes off Ginny. She narrowed her eyes in speculation before looking at Ginny. She seemed totally carefree, considering she was heading downstairs to presumably break up with her boyfriend of more than seven months. She watched as Ron slung his arm over Ginny's shoulder, which admittedly was a funny sight as he had to be at least a good six inches taller than her. Before Ron could reach up to mess with her hair, she slid out from under his arm and ran to the other side of Harry. Ginny put her arm through Harry's and cuddled up to his shoulder. Harry looked shocked at this turn of events.

"Harry, my great defender, please protect me from the great gigantic oaf. He's going to bludger me into the ground." Harry looked over at Ron and shrugged as if to say "No idea, mate." Ron instantly focused on Ginny.

"Um, Gin, don't you have a boyfriend? One that is not Harry? What do you think you're doing flirting with my best mate?" Ron bellowed, annoyed at his sister. Hermione knew that Ginny wasn't going to let this one pass.

"Gee, Ron, didn't know you cared." Ginny stuck her tongue out at him before widening her eyes. "Oh, wait, forgot you're one of the overprotective gits. Of course you care." She let go of Harry's arm to step in front of Ron, causing him to almost trip over her. Ginny stood on her tiptoes and dragged Ron's face down to her level by pulling on his school tie. "Listen up, you nosy troll, who I date or flirt with is none of your business. In fact, if I wanted to flirt with the whole damn Quidditch team, you have nothing to say about it." She stopped to readjust his tie. "Understand?" He croaked out a "Yes."

Ginny flounced back to Harry. Lacing her arm through his, she said loud enough so that it carried over her shoulder to Ron, "Would you be kind enough to escort me to the Great Hall? I would hate to attack my closest sibling. I know that you'll help me control myself, won't you, Harry?" She smiled brightly at him.

Hermione watched as Harry gulped before answering, "Sure." Harry seemed awfully skittish around Ginny. At least to Hermione, he did. She wondered what he had done the previous night and if it had anything to do with a certain petite red-head. Watching the two of them walk down the hall to the stairs, she didn't notice when Ron came up beside her.

"Morning, Hermione," Ron said very quietly by her right shoulder. She startled and placed a hand over her heart. Glancing over at him, she felt her heart race a little more at the sight of him. He was walking with his head down allowing her to see that his hair was wet and shaggy over his ears. How she longed to run her fingers through it. She looked back towards Harry and Ginny before responding.

"Morning, Ron." She didn't know why he was talking to her, not really. It was very disconcerting. He was doing nothing like he should. Wasn't he supposed to be escorting Lavender down for breakfast? Why was he with her? She tried to remember whether Lavender had still been asleep or not, but realized that she simply hadn't paid any attention while she was getting ready.

Still, Hermione didn't know what to say to him, so she was immensely pleased when they came upon Luna walking down to breakfast as well. Hermione strode over to the Ravenclaw and latched onto her arm, chatting all the way down to breakfast.

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Ron watched as Hermione grabbed Luna's arm and started a conversation immediately. He wanted to hit himself over the head. Maybe he should go flying later and let Ginny practice throwing Quaffles at his head. Only he could manage to wreck two perfectly good friendships by starting a relationship with Lavender. What Hermione must be thinking of him now, a fellow who kissed a girl who was not his girlfriend. He might be the tallest of his friends, but he felt infinitely shorter than all of them, based on his actions of the previous night. His mind kept replaying the moment when Hermione jerked away from him and refused to answer him as she raced up the stairs. Her nervous actions this morning only drove home the point that he had screwed up royally.

He had naturally drifted towards one side of the Gryffindor table. Yet, when he realized that Hermione was sitting on that side across from Ginny, who was beside Harry, he quickly reversed direction to sit on the other side of Harry. Ron silently piled his food on his plate and ate, totally lost in his self-deprecating thoughts. Around him, comments were made that he refused to respond to. When Lavender came and sat beside him, he didn't even bother to greet her. Thoughts of why he was even dating Lavender and why he would think it was okay to kiss Hermione roiled through his head. He had never believed that he would have so little integrity, but his actions belied that belief. Ron pondered what he could do to redeem himself in Hermione's eyes.

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A few days later, Harry and Ginny raced along a hallway, trying to get away from Peeves as he was sure to alert everyone to the prank that they had just set up in the Great Hall for Dean. Ginny had dumped him later the morning after she and Harry had their rendezvous in the Room of Requirement. However, the dumping was not enough payback in Ginny's mind, which had led her to ask for help from Harry in setting up a good prank. Harry smirked as he thought about how Dean would respond to the splotches of lipstick that would cover his cheeks, marking him with kisses.

Seeing a good hiding spot, Harry pulled Ginny under the invisibility cloak with him, hiding beside a statue of a wizard with drawn wand. Her back rested against his chest with her cute bum nestled close. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm a certain part of his anatomy, but to no avail. Ginny giggled and ground her bum against his erection, causing it to jump in expectation. Ever since their assignation in the Room of Requirement, Harry had wanted to get his hands--and other parts-- on Ginny again, but there had not been an opportunity. Now, however, seemed to be an ample moment to start something, especially when Ginny was moving against him like she was.

His hands, which had been on her shoulders, travelled down her arms to her hips. His right hand ventured across the flat plane of her stomach while his left slid up to cup her right breast through her top, but under her sweater and robes. Feeling the weight of her in his hand, he paused before sliding his other hand up to mimic the position of the other. Her breasts were perfectly sized to fit his hands. His thumbs reached around the cup of her bra to toy with her nipples, which had already hardened. Harry heard her breath catch in her throat. With his nose, he pushed her ponytail to one side so that he could kiss the back of her neck. Sucking on her throat while pinching and pulling at her nipples apparently was a huge turn-on, as she ground herself against him harder and moaned. Ginny grabbed one of his hands and pulled it down between her legs. Guiding his hand with hers, they rubbed against her mound.

Harry moaned as Ginny's hand found its way between their bodies to clamp around his penis. The feelings she evoked with that hand were tremendous and overwhelming. "Gin," he whispered. "We're in the hallway."

"Harry, we're covered by an Invisibility cloak," she whispered back. "Besides, you've gotten me hot and bothered. You better take care of me, if you know what's good for you."

"All right, then," Harry whispered back before continuing his ministrations to her body. Ginny's head dropped back against Harry's shoulder as his mouth made its way back to her neck before gliding up her jaw toward her mouth. She turned her head to meet him, lifting it a little so he could settle his lips against hers. He felt her body go pliant. Trying to calculate the best way to achieve his goal, Harry picked Ginny up to stand her still facing away from him on the plinth of the statue they were hiding behind. With the invisibility cloak over Ginny's head as a shield toward the hallway, he ran his hands up the front of her legs, revelling in the feel of her muscles as they tightened when his hands grew closer to her centre. He let one hand continue its journey up her body while the other stroked higher on one thigh before crossing to the other.

"Ha…rr…y…., please!" she drew out his name. He grinned at her pleading as her hands reached behind her to pluck at his belt buckle. The hand that had been on her thigh crept up to pull her knickers down to her knees. His other hand pulled his trousers as well as his boxers down before he stepped closer to her. His mouth was now level with her shoulder as she stood on the pedestal. He kissed her shoulder as he spread her wet folds with two fingers. Her body curved toward the statue, grinding her bum into him further.

The head of his penis strained to enter the warmth that it knew lay only centimetres away. Giving in, he slipped into her, groaning at the exquisite heat that infused him. Harry withdrew a little before sliding in deeper, marvelling in the friction that their bodies created. His hands went to her hips to help steady her as he set a slow and steady rhythm. Ginny's body, which was leaning against the statue, quivered in his hands as she kept pace with him. The build-up of pressure in his back begged to be released. Once he completely filled Ginny, he let go with a rush and muffled yell against her back. She continued to rock her hips back and forth until he felt a gush of warmth between them. With that, she collapsed onto the statue pulling the invisibility cloak with her, exposing their feet.

Harry snuggled up to Ginny's back for a few moments before pulling out of her and standing to pull out his wand to start cleaning them up. He knew that if any mess was found and determined to be a result of something he had done, Filch would have him in detention until the end of school.

"Hey! Where did my warmth go?" Ginny muttered, lifting her head up and looking back at him. He took a moment to take in the view of his girl, looking at him over her shoulder with her skirt hiked up to her waist and knickers down around her knees. Her arse had to be the most incredibly perfect bum around. Harry ran his hand down to cup her bottom.

"Did you know that you have the most perfect arse?" Harry questioned.

"What?" Ginny had a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh, nothing." Harry cast a quick mild Cleaning charm on the both of them before helping Ginny straighten her clothes. She then helped him.

"Well, that was a most pleasant ending to the planning of a good prank. We'll have to do that again sometime," Ginny said, stepping down off the base of the statue still under the cloak.

Pulling the cloak off of them, Harry wrapped his arms around her and dropped a kiss on her lips before responding, "I'm ready whenever you are." Grabbing her hand after he stuffed the cloak into his pocket, he started to lead the way back to the common room when Luna turned the corner, startling them.

"Oh, it was your feet I saw. I thought so," Luna said dreamily.


	5. Chapter 5 Weasley Thoughts

A/N: Okay, I'm sure you're going to say haven't I read this before? You have the first part. But I added quite a bit more to it. Thanks to Jonelle for being a fabulous beta! Oh and if you're also following CoP, you might be wondering about the production that has been coming from me. If you couldn't tell, school's out, which frees my mind up for my writing. *grin* More writing time= more chapters posted. Thanks to all who read and most especially those who review. The reviews make me smile!

Kissing Friday

Chapter 5- Weasley Thoughts

February 20

After breaking up with Lavender, Ron decided to make it a point to study in the library as much as he could without prompting from Hermione. He figured that maybe he could redeem himself in her eyes by actually putting some effort into his schoolwork. Plopping down at the other end of the table from where Hermione was working on a Transfiguration paper, he pulled out his Potions book. Ron surreptitiously glanced down at Hermione. She was still ignoring him like she had been since their kiss. Hermione hadn't even acknowledged that he had broken up with Lavender. He heaved a huge sigh and wondered why he cared so much about what Hermione thought of him.

Trying to focus on his Potions, he got sidetracked again when he glanced over at Hermione. She had her lower lip trapped between her teeth in a look of fierce concentration. He remembered the feel of those lips on his. Kissing Hermione had been so different from kissing Lavender. Lavender's kisses were very wet and left Ron feeling like he needed a towel to wipe his face. Hermione, on the other hand… Well, an area of his body needed a towel after her kiss and it wasn't his face.

"Ron, why are you here?" Hermione asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. She was tapping the end of the quill against her paper, not even realizing that she was leaving small dots all over her parchment.

"Why I'm here to study, Hermione. There are several potions that I need to revise as I'm not quite sure which order to put the ingredients into the cauldron," he grinned at her.

"But you never study without me nagging you to…" she trailed off, deep in thought. The light in her eyes seemed to dim as she slowly packed up her rucksack. As usual, her arms were still filled with books as her bag never seemed to hold all of them. Panicking, Ron wondered what he had done that had upset her now. He stood to offer her help with her books when she brushed by him hard enough to send him back into the seat.

"Hermione, wait," he called after her retreating figure. Ron watched her glide through the library doors. "Bloody hell," he whispered to himself, wondering what he should try next.

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February 21

Ginny Weasley wondered why she was sitting on a couch in front of the fireplace in the very empty Gryffindor common room while every other Gryffindor in her year was outside enjoying the unusually warm day. Staring at the fire, which really wasn't needed, she relived several intense moments between Harry and herself that had occurred over the past week.

_Harry.__ He was the reason she wasn't outside. She still couldn't quite believe that he was hers. Well, at least she thought of him as hers. _She sighed. _Were they ever going to go public with their relationship? And what kind of relationship did they have exactly? It was all her fault for suggesting that they sneak around. Harry would never be the type of guy to only be out to get that "one thing" from a girl, but still was she his girlfriend, albeit a secret one?_ _Is that what she wanted? _

Ginny had to admit to herself that she had never really pictured herself with anyone other than Harry. She really didn't know how much longer she could simply play being only his friend, not now that she knew what those lips felt like and how they would move against her skin. Moreover, she wanted more than anything to shut Romilda Vane up. Just today at lunch, Romilda had been overheard bragging about how she was this close, holding her index finger and thumb about two centimetres apart, to getting Harry into her bed. Ginny longed to be able to turn to Romilda and say how incredibly difficult that would be since Harry was sharing her bed and she didn't share. However, she was bound by an agreement of her own suggestion, which prevented her saying anything.

Her thoughts returned to more pleasant ones. Reliving some of the steamy encounters she and Harry had shared under his Invisibility Cloak. Her body temperature started to rise, causing her to fan herself in an effort to cool down.

An arm appeared over the back of the couch with a finger trailing up her right arm. Ginny nearly jumped through the roof of the tower. She had thought herself to be completely alone in the common room. Turning around on the couch, brandishing her wand, she startled at the sight in front of her.

His green eyes sparkling with mischief, Harry simply held out his hand to lead her around to the back of the couch and into his arms. "Wait. Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Ginny asked, surprise in her voice.

Harry seemed to think about it for a minute before answering "Yes, but I decided that I would skive off since you had a free period."

"But Harry, it's a N.E.W.T. level class. You can't just skive off," Ginny scolded him.

"You can if you use a Nosebleed Nougat and get yourself sent to the Hospital Wing," he grinned at her as his hands ran up and down her back. "In fact, I was told by Madam Pomfrey that I needed to rest." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "What do you say? Play nurse for me?"

Despite her confusion over their relationship, Ginny couldn't help noticing how happy Harry seemed. She had never seen him act this light-hearted and teasing before. Tilting her head, her smile grew as his hands ran up her back and over her shoulders to cup her face. He pulled her body close to his. His lips teased by nipping first at one side of her mouth and then the other before coming to rest directly on top of her lips. All rational thought vanished once his mouth had assaulted hers.

"What do you say we take advantage of the fact that all the rest of my roommates are in class?" Harry whispered in between kisses. Ginny's brain couldn't seem to form words, so she just nodded. Grabbing her hand to pull her behind him, Harry darted toward the stairs.

Once they crossed the threshold of the boys' dormitory, Harry's lips attacked hers in a fierce battle for dominance. Ginny didn't really notice anything about the décor of the room as Harry walked her backwards up to the bed while nibbling at her lips and running his hands through her hair. Ginny stumbled when her foot hit the small step that led to the bed. Her eyes popped open and a giggle escaped.

Neither one of them saw the previous occupant of the room sneak toward the door. After he closed it behind him, Neville mouthed, "Harry and Ginny?" He secured his textbook in his hand more firmly and swept down the steps to head to class.

Scrambling up onto the bed, trying out different poses while his back was turned, Ginny watched Harry pull the curtains closed and cast a Locking and Silencing Charm on them. Harry turned and dived onto the bed, causing her to bounce up off the bed for a few seconds before landing back beside Harry. She grinned widely at the sight of Harry's dancing green eyes. Ginny thought again about how light-hearted Harry seemed.

"Who are you? And just what have you done with Harry Potter?" Ginny asked, giggling.

"It's not what have I done with Harry Potter, but rather what you have done with Harry Potter," Harry replied.

"Oh," Ginny said, slightly confused. She reached up to scratch at her eyebrow when Harry grabbed her hand to pull her toward him. The dancing in his eyes had slowed and a fire leapt into them. Ginny was shocked to see the instant change from his carefree attitude to one of passion. _Did she really have that kind of effect on him?_ Cradling her cheek in one hand, Harry traced her lips with his thumb before swooping down to capture her lips with his.

His lips swept down her jaw, leaving tiny kisses before heading to her throat. Ginny moaned as Harry's hands tugged at her waistband, pulling the ends of her shirt out. Her hands pulled at his tie. Trying to pull it up and over his head, it got stuck under his ear. Growling, she worked it around and off his head. Her hands resumed their frenzied fumbling to open the buttons on his shirt. Yet, when Harry's mouth attached itself to her neck, they sat motionless on his shirt front.

"Uh, hmmm…" Ginny tried to say something, but the words stuck in her throat just at the point where Harry's mouth was. With her eyes closed, she resumed her unbuttoning of his shirt. After reaching the last button, she ran her hands up inside his shirt across the planes of his stomach to his shoulders. Slipping her hands under his arms, he trapped them there by pulling his arms tightly to his body. Not really putting up a fight to get her hands free, Ginny revelled in the onslaught of sensations created by Harry's mouth. He was placing kisses on every inch of skin he uncovered as he slowly unbuttoned her shirt. Harry's mouth darted out to trace the outline of her navel before crossing to skim just above the waistline of her skirt. Ginny tugged her hands out of their snare to fist in Harry's hair, silently urging him to go lower with his lips.

Harry pulled away for a moment, fingers fumbling at her waistband. Ginny realized that Harry was trying to get her skirt off and started to giggle. Harry sat up, straddling her thighs, looking at her with the most confused look on his face, which of course made her giggle even more.

"What now?" Harry demanded to know, rolling his eyes at her. She knew he was only teasing as the dancing had reappeared in his eyes.

"Do you…" Ginny squeezed out in between giggles, "realize that this is our first time in a bed and not standing up? You don't even know how to take off my skirt because you've always just pushed it out of the way." Seeing a hurt look replace the joking one and feeling him start to move away from her, she stopped laughing. "Oh, Harry, I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy our previous "encounters", shall we call them? I love being with you. It just struck me as ironic that it's taken us this long to get to enjoy one another in a bed. Besides, it's not like I'm not clumsy at this being in a bed thing as well. Look at what happened with your tie and for that matter, when I was approaching the bed. This is just different from what we've been doing."

"Hmmm…" Harry's voice took on that witty quality once more. "Maybe I shouldn't have invited you to my bed after all if you're only going to act as a tease."

"Oh, I'm not a tease," Ginny said, giving him a long steamy look. "I'm more than willing to follow through on what I promise." She crooked her finger, inviting him to join her once more down on the bed.

"Really? Let's test this out, shall we?" Harry responded before leaning back over her. He ran his fingers lightly up her sides, causing her to shiver. Running them down her arms, he grabbed her hands to pull her to a sitting position. She shrugged out of her top before reaching out to try once again to tug on his shirt. He helped her out by stripping it off and tossing it to the end of the bed.

Noticing the long lingering look he was giving her, Ginny vacillated between wanting to poke her chest out and throwing an arm up to cover herself. She knew this wasn't the first time Harry had seen her, but it was the first time Harry had time to really look at her. Harry took the decision out of her hands by murmuring, "Beautiful." He lowered his head to the hollow of her throat, raining kisses from there down to the swell of her left breast. Her skin tingled from his touch and his lips. She was rather shocked and even more aroused when Harry nosed the bra cup away from her skin so he could gently suck on her nipple. Wanting to get the bra out of the way, she leaned her torso up just enough to slip her hands behind her to unclasp it. Trying to make a mental note to always buy front clasping bras from now on, Ginny's mind could not function long enough as Harry turned up the amount of attention he lavished on her chest once her bra was out of the way. Her hands wove themselves into his hair as his lips travelled back and forth between her breasts, his tongue first coaxing one into a hardened peak before travelling to the other to complete the set. She let out a small whimper at the amount of heat that Harry was creating in her through his attention to her chest. Her thoroughly soaked knickers served as evidence to her arousal.

It wasn't until Harry's lips drifted their way across her stomach to her hips that Ginny could break the spell that had been cast over her. Gliding the zipper to her uniform skirt down, she shimmied the material over her hips and down her legs while Harry's hands ran up and down her sides along her waist. Thankful that she didn't wear hose, she watched Harry sit back on his heels to slide her knee socks down her legs one at a time. Ginny let out a growl, unhappy with how long it was taking Harry. The moment her second sock was off her foot, she tackled him, knocking him onto his back so she could get his belt off. His pants followed soon after leaving Harry in his boxers. She moved back to lean against the headboard.

"Do you really need the glasses?" she asked, licking her lips at the picture he made lying on the bed with his hair all crumpled and messy. While Harry might not have the most muscular chest, his shoulders were well-formed and the small amount of hair that dotted his chest leading to the waistband of his boxers just made her want to drool.

"Well, if I want to see you, which of course I do, then yes. Why?" Harry asked, his eyes bright with curiosity.

Ginny sighed. "I like running my fingers through your hair, but I always seem to knock your glasses askew. I wanted to avoid that if possible."

"Well, I'm so sorry that you happened to fall in with a blind male like me. Maybe you should go back to Dean. He has perfect eyesight after all," Harry retorted. Ginny's eyes went wide.

"I know you did not just suggest that I go back to that prat of a roommate of yours. Perfect eyesight is all fine and handy," she wiggled her eyebrows at this, deliberately changing the saying, "but his lips are not nearly as creative and… adventurous as yours are." At this, she looked at him through lowered eyelashes before fluttering them at him. As she wanted and anticipated, he then pounced on her.

Their movements started off playful and carefree before becoming more sensual and passionate. Ginny's mind turned to mush when Harry's lips travelled all over her body, cherishing every centimetre before he slowly slipped into her. Waves of passion lapped within her with every thrust of their hips until she could take no more and screamed.

Ginny's head rested against Harry's chest, listening to the sound of his slowing heartbeat. Propping herself up on one hand, she looked down at Harry and swept away a lock of hair from his brow with her free hand. A wave of emotion swept over her and she realized that the crush she had had on Harry was completely gone. In its place was pure unadulterated love. While she had known that she was winding her way toward love with Harry, this afternoon delight had shown her a more carefree Harry than she had ever seen. This had been a Harry without the burden of Voldemort. This was the Harry she wanted as her own for all time. Now she just had to convince him that she could help him become that Harry and that she was the one for him.


	6. Chapter 6 Confusion and Embarrassment

A/N: Okay, so a HUGE thanks must go to my beta Jonelle, whose Friends' knowledge helped inspire the last scene of this chapter. The first two scenes have been seen before and I'm not sure why I deleted this cahpter before. *shrugs* I'm working on a chapter for CoP next and then it's back to this one since I remember where I'm going with it next. Oh, and sorry for the lack of puffy scenes.

Chapter 6- Confusion, Happiness and Embarrassment

February 28

Hermione slowly picked at her plate of food, absent-mindedly twisting a lock of hair around her left index finger. Her friends' voices resounded in her ears, but she wasn't following their conversation. Instead she merely soaked in the feelings evoked by one particular voice. The deep timbre sent little vibrations up and down her limbs. Hermione knew it was strange to have a crush on someone that had all started with sound of his voice, but when Ron's voice had changed, so had Hermione's feelings for him. She had been deprived of hearing it for so long now, ever since he had started seeing Lavender. Ron, however, had recently broken it off with Lavender and as a result had started sitting with Harry at the Gryffindor table once more. Still, Hermione didn't know how to talk to him since their kiss on Kissing Friday, which resulted in her just sitting at the table, listening to the sound of his voice wash over her.

She was stuck in her thoughts until a large hand touched her shoulder. Startling, she turned around to see Ron standing behind her holding two rucksacks on one of his shoulders.

"Ron, hurry up. We have Quidditch practice. You know that Harry will make you fly extra laps if you're late," Ginny called to him as she hurried out of the Great Hall.

"I have to go get my gear from the Tower. I'll be there in a few minutes," he called back to her.

Hermione glanced down to the floor beside her to verify her supposition. "Ronald Weasley," she said, standing up and placing her hands on her hips, "what are you doing with my bag?"

"Geez, 'Mione, I was just going to carry it up to the Tower for you. Angry much?" Ron replied.

"Ronald, are you implying that I'm incapable of carrying my own books up the stairs, even though I've been doing it for the past five years without a problem?" Hermione crossed her arms mid-rant and glared at Ron, who placidly just held out her bag for her to take.

"Well, they are kind of heavy, but you know what? It's not worth fighting over. I'll see you later at the library, Hermione," Ron responded calmly before heading out of the Great Hall. Hermione just stared at his retreating back, stunned. _It wasn't worth fighting over? Since when did Ron Weasley back down from a fight?_ She cursed under her breath, wondering if he had figured out her strategy of starting a fight with him, just to hear his voice. _He'll see me later at the library?_ Hermione couldn't believe the changes in Ron. It was like she had no idea who he was anymore. Realizing that she was still standing in the middle of the Great Hall, she looked around for anything she might have forgotten before heading to the library.

Hermione threw her rucksack onto the library table, earning her a scowl from Madam Pince. Her short burst of temper evaporated at the sound of the impact. Slumping down into the chair, Hermione rested her head on her hands. Just what was Ron playing at? He was so different from before. Now he was showing up in the library all the time, trying to carry her bag, their kiss…

Ron surely didn't realize that the kiss he gave her on Kissing Friday was her first kiss. Oh, she knew the rumours that Lavender and Parvati had started about her snogging Viktor, but they weren't true. She hadn't said anything to contradict the rumour because after all, what girl wants to admit to never being kissed? Plus, in her deepest of hearts, she had hoped it would make Ron somewhat jealous and realize that she was a girl. She had thought it had the desired effect when Ron had agreed to attend Professor Slughorn's party with her. Instead, it seemed to have the opposite--driving him right into Lavender's arms since Harry had later told her that Ron had not heard the rumours until right before he got together with Lavender. Then again, if he was attracted to Lavender, then there was little to no chance that he could be even slightly interested in her. She and Lavender couldn't be more different as the only thing they had in common was sharing a house dorm room.

Before Lavender entered the picture as Ron's girlfriend, at least Hermione had Ron's friendship, something for which she was willing to settle. Now it seemed that their friendship was damaged beyond repair. She really didn't know how to talk to him other than fighting and he wasn't cooperating with her in that area anymore. So not only had she lost her chance at being with Ron, but it also cost her his friendship. She wanted to put her head down and cry, but knew she could NOT break down in the library.

She had quite a lot of work to catch up on. It was amazing how Ron's behaviour could confuse her so much that it would affect her concentration on her studies. But Ron was at Quidditch practice so he wouldn't be here distracting her. Now if she could just stop thinking about him for longer than five minutes, she might actually get some work done. Forcing all of her thoughts about one Ronald Weasley to the side, she set to work.

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Harry pulled up on his broom to watch Ginny dodge a Bludger before she launched the Quaffle through the left hoop. Ginny smirked at Ron in triumph before zooming off to practice flying the Chaser weave with Dean and Demelza. Rather than looking for the Snitch, which would signal the end of practice, Harry watched Ginny's hair whip around her face set ablaze by the setting sun's rays like red-gold flames in a fire. Her face was lit with a glow similar to the one she had after one of their encounters. Just thinking of some of their exploits made Harry's limbs shiver in anticipation, along with making a certain part of his anatomy bulge.

The past two weeks had been heavenly. Harry honestly wondered if he had switched lives with somebody, considering how happy Ginny made him. The only fly in the ointment was the agreement to sneak around that Ginny had suggested and he had agreed to. Why had he ever agreed? Wait, he knew the answer to that one, Dean and Ron. Ginny hadn't wanted it to seem like she was dumping Dean for him. Harry hadn't wanted to face the scrutiny and lecture he would get from Ron for even thinking about Ron's baby sister like that. Yet, he couldn't have anticipated how often he would long to climb to the top of the Astronomy Tower and shout that Ginny Weasley was his girl. These longings grew more insistent every time he saw other blokes flirting with said girl, which, as she was very beautiful, was quite often. He knew that the only way to keep himself from looking like a overgrown Neanderthal was to talk to her about going public with their relationship. Harry knew he would do just that the first opportunity he got.

Spotting a glint of gold, he flew off, chasing after the Snitch like he planned on chasing the happiness he had with Ginny.

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"Hermione, I know I messed up on Kissing Friday, but you have to understand how incredibly tempting your lips were. I just couldn't help myself. I know I had a girlfriend who wasn't you, but don't you see you were the one I wanted for my girlfriend?" Ron looked into the mirror, trying to determine if these would be the phrases that would gain him access to the heart of the one he so wanted. He sighed before slumping onto his bed.

"Thinking heavy thoughts, Ron?" Neville asked. Ron jumped so high that his head brushed the top of the curtain on the bed. Admittedly his head wasn't too far from it to begin with though.

"Merlin, Nev, give a bloke some warning next time," Ron said, hand over his heart that was thumping in his chest. But after thinking about his previous activities, Ron stared at Neville trying to see if he could read on Neville's face whether or not he had heard what Ron had been rehearsing in the mirror.

"So, Ron, how long has this affair with the mirror been going on? I'm a little shocked at the fact that you would prefer a two-dimensional object to Lavender, but then Lavender can get annoying…" Neville said, trailing off as he apparently thought about previous encounters with Ron's ex-girlfriend.

"I don't want the mirror, you prat. I was practising a talk that I want to have with someone," Ron admitted, looking everywhere but at Neville.

"Oh, you mean you've finally woken up to the fact that you're in love with Hermione?" Neville asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He sat on the edge of Harry's bed. Ron figured he did this since Harry's was the one closest to where Ron was sitting. Then the words that Neville said hit Ron fully.

"How? What? How did you know?" Ron stuttered in response.

"Let's see, I've lived with you and had classes with the both of you for," Neville placed a finger on his chin as if in thought, "five and a half years now. Ron, everyone in the castle can pretty much tell you that you're in love with Hermione and she's in love with you. Well, maybe not Crabbe and Goyle, but no one ever accused them of being intelligent."

Ron, being Ron, latched onto the part of Neville's sentence about him in love with Hermione and completely missed everything that came after. He stood up to pace back and forth between the beds.

"What do you mean everyone knows I'm in love with Hermione? I just broke up with Lavender. I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is even love," Ron ranted. Then he paused and collapsed on his bed, arms going up over his head. "Neville, what am I going to do?"

"Tell her. It's not that hard," Neville replied.

_Since when does Neville give advice like this? _Ron thought_. _"Um, did you catch what I was trying to do when I was talking to the mirror? I was trying to figure out how to approach her with it."

"Ron, she's your best friend, well, one of them. How difficult is it to just tell her?" Neville asked, exasperated.

"You don't understand. I kissed her."

"You what?" Neville's mouth dropped.

"On Kissing Friday. I kissed her and I was still seeing Lavender. Hermione hates me now, Nev." Ron grabbed his pillow and buried his face in it.

"No, she doesn't. But you're right in practicing what you're going to say. Knowing you, you'll just put your foot in your mouth. No, make that both feet," Neville mused.

After a few moments of silence, Neville broke it. "Ron, you could practise on me. Pretend like I'm Hermione."

Ron threw his pillow towards the head of the bed in his efforts to sit up to look at his friend. Trying to figure out if there was an angle as to why Neville would offer this, he studied his friend's face. _What is up with Neville? This really wasn't like him._

Seeing Ron's examination, Neville shrugged. "It's totally up to you. I don't care one way or the other if you decide to try this out, but I do want to see you finally make Hermione happy. She's been through enough with you."

"What are you saying?" Ron asked.

"Just that it's about time she got the opportunity to be happy. Ron, every time she's attempted to be happy in a relationship with a guy of any sorts, other than Harry, you've ruined it."

"No. What? That can't be true, can it?" Ron ran his hand through his hair, scratching his head. He thought back over the years and when Hermione was with other guys. "The only guy I can think of her trying anything with is Krum and I most decidedly didn't do anything to ruin that."

"Oh, really? Interesting how your memory is different than mine. Even though I was otherwise occupied, even I know about the fight you two got into the night of the Yule Ball. Oh, and he wasn't the only one she tried anything with or did you forget that she had invited you to the Slug Club Christmas party at one point? But no, then again you had to be an idiot and start up with Lavender. You didn't want Krum to have her, but you made her feel like she wasn't worth a Knut. And you kissed her? Well, you need to start planning out what you want to say to her." Neville just shook his head at his friend. "Now come on and try out something on me."

Ron thought about it for a few minutes. "So what do you think? Should I be on my knees? I mean, isn't that the tried-and-true grovelling position?" Ron asked Neville.

"I think it might be a good idea after all you've done," Neville replied.

Ron complied by getting on his knees by his bed. "Should I be at her feet, too?"

Neville nodded. Ron crossed over to Neville while remaining on his knees. Clearing his throat, he started. "Hermione, Lavender pales in comparison to you."

Neville shook his head. "Ron, don't bring up Lavender! It's just a reminder of the girl you chose over Hermione."

Ron rocked his body to rest back on his heels for a moment. Biting his cheek, he thought about what he could say to explain to Hermione what he felt. He had a glimmer of inspiration hit, driving him back onto his knees. He grabbed Neville's hand.

"Nice touch," Neville said, lifting their joint hands. "Hermione would enjoy it."

Ron took a deep breath. "Did you know that your smile brightens my whole day? Each morning I look forward to the brilliance of it lighting up the room. The days when your laugh fills the room with--"

Two snickers were heard from the doorway. With eyes wide, Ron, with Neville's hand still in his, looked over to see Harry and Seamus clutching opposite sides of the door to prevent themselves from falling onto the floor with laughter. Ron dropped Neville's hand like a hot Quaffle. Slowly backing away, he almost didn't hear Seamus ask, "With?"

He missed Neville's response as his face flushed scarlet in embarrassment. He crawled to his bed before slowly pulling himself up onto it. Right before he buried his face in his pillow, he heard Seamus say, "I've always wondered if you two kids would get together."

Ron grabbed the other pillow to cover his head in shame. He knew he would never live this one down.


	7. Chapter 7 Confrontations

A/N: Wait, what's this? Jenn is updating more than once in a month? Amazing... Many thanks to my fabulous and wonderful beta, Jonelle! You're awesome, J! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7- Confrontations

March 1

Ron crossed to sit beside Hermione at the Gryffindor table early that morning. Bypassing the food, which should have tipped Hermione off that something was up, Ron leaned against the table, propping his chin on his hand, looking at her.

"Hermione, we need to talk," Ron said very calmly.

"Why? So you can humiliate me again? I don't think so," Hermione responded by turning her back to Ron.

"Humiliate you? When have I ever done that? Or rather when have I ever been capable of that?"

"Try 'Kissing Friday'. Or did you forget you kissed me in the midst of all the other kisses you gave that day?"

"How was me kissing you a humiliation?"

"Oh, I can't talk to you!" Hermione stormed out of the Great Hall.

Ron sat at the table, fuming. _Humiliate her? How in Merlin's name did he humiliate her by kissing her? _He folded his arms across his chest. His thoughts running in circles, Ron decided to go back to the dormitory to think about his approach to how to resolve this with Hermione.

He made his way back upstairs without once glancing at the spread of food in front of him.

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Harry peeked through the curtains of his bed, his eyes racing around the room looking for bodies up and moving. With the delicate nature of his plans, he wanted to be sure that two of his dorm mates didn't see him leave. As he silently slid his body toward his trunk, he noticed that Ron's curtains were ajar, framing an empty bed with tumbled sheets.

_Oh Merlin__, _Harry thought. _He's found out about us. The only reason that Ron would be out of bed this early on a Saturday and his birthday no less was if he was extremely upset about something. Wait, if he knew, he wouldn't have gone anywhere without hexing me, so he must not know. Hmm. It's still probably best if I get his birthday present out now. I can just put it on his bed._

Harry started digging through his trunk. He pulled out a heart shaped box of chocolates. Shaking his head, he wondered where this had come from. He tossed it on his bed, knowing that the box of chocolates he had for Ron must be in his trunk somewhere. Seeing the telltale colour that signified something related to the Chudley Cannons, Harry grabbed at it and pulled the box of Honeydukes' chocolates to the surface. He grinned at the reaction he imagined his best mate having when he saw the Chudley Cannon Quidditch cards that came with the chocolates. The sight of the time had him scrambling to put the orange box on Ron's bed before quickly dressing and racing out of Gryffindor Tower. He was off to the prefects' bathroom to see Ginny.

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Hermione ran down the steps of the castle. At the bottom of the stairs with the majority of her energy expended, she slowed her pace. The witch meandered down the path leading to the lake.

_Why? Why do I let him get me so worked up? _She kicked at a rock viciously.

_I couldn't even be gracious enough to wish him a happy birthday. No, instead I had to jump all over him the moment he spoke to me._ She sighed before flopping her body down to the ground beside the lake.

_But why did he wait so long to want to talk to me? He's been avoiding me at every turn until now. Why did he wait until his birthday__—two full weeks after the 'incident'? _A tear streaked down her cheek. She pulled her knees to her chest and fisted her hands, hitting the hard, cold ground on either side of her legs.

_Why did __I ever think he would understand me? I knew he thought I had been kissed before. _She thought about what she would have liked her first kiss to be like. Her imagination had painted a picture of her being swept up in Ron's arms after his declaration of love to her. Resting her elbows on her knees, she laid her head on her arms and sobbed for what should have been.

She calmed herself before sitting along the shore of the lake for some time, watching the Giant Squid slowly swim along with its tentacles occasionally breaking the surface allowing her to become mesmerized.

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Ginny paced in front of the mirror in the prefects' bathroom. Harry was supposed to have been there five minutes before, but she was so preoccupied with trying to figure out how to tell him what she wanted that she hadn't even noticed. Facing the mirror once more, she started her speech again.

"Harry, I know that I was the one who suggested the sneaking around and all, but really I just want to tell everyone," she stated earnestly. A giggle from behind her made her spin around. Moaning Myrtle was floating between the pool-sized tub and the toilets.

"Talking to yourself now? Don't you remember what happened last time you were doing that?" Myrtle said in her small little girl voice.

"Myrtle! Like I need a reminder! Now, I'm expecting someone and you better be gone before he arrives," Ginny said tersely.

"Oooh, little miss Quidditch is meeting a boy in a bathroom!" Myrtle said slyly. "Are you going to be doing dirty things?"

"Myrtle, you might be a ghost, but that doesn't mean that I don't know certain" Ginny made sure to emphasise the certain, "spells that can still affect spirits just like they do people. I'm sure my brothers have made you aware of some of these spells, have they not? So scram!"

Myrtle, hearing these words, turned tail and flew down the toilet pipes very quickly.

Ginny, just now noticing the time, was wondering if Harry was going to stand her up when the door to the bathroom was pushed open. She took a deep breath.

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Ron paused at the doorway to his room, his hand hovering over the door handle. He was incredibly tempted to grab Harry's map and find Hermione, but he didn't think she would be very receptive to his overtures at the moment. No, he needed to stop and plan this out. He would treat this like a chess match, but instead of mating the king, he was after the queen.

Determined to think this through, he opened the door, crossing to his bed. He vaguely noticed that Harry was gone, but everyone else seemed to still be asleep, which suited him fine. Yet, when he looked at his bed, he found a box of chocolates. Assuming that it was his present from Harry, he tore it open. After all, chocolates were brain food in his opinion.

Seeing the Quidditch cards inside made him feel like at least his friendship with Harry hadn't been permanently damaged by his relationship with Lavender. Tearing off the wrapper, he sat leaning back against the headboard, thinking and planning.

Some time later, he reached into the box only to come out empty-handed. Not being done planning his strategy, Ron looked around for other sources of food. His eyes brightened when they fell on the heart-shaped box of chocolates on Harry's bed. Going over to grab them, he unwrapped the box and pulled a few out. Ron thought he could finish up his planning after eating a few of these. He didn't want to eat all of Harry's chocolates, but he knew that Harry wouldn't begrudge him a few, especially not on his birthday.

After a few bites, Ron's mind was taken over with visions of dark eyes and long, dark hair. He started wondering why he was planning anything to do with Hermione. It was Romilda that he should be planning for. He loved _her_, after all!


	8. Chapter 8 Confessions

A/N: I know, I know. I haven't updated this one in a LOOONG time, but see, here's an update. The next one shouldn't take quite so long. There's not too much left to this story really. Thanks to all who have read, reviewed, favorites, alerted. It's amazing to me to know that people are reading my story. Oh, this is mostly unbeta-ed. I will have a beta-ed version up soon, but I wanted to give you all the update as soon as I could. Thanks to Jonelle as always for beta-ing!

Thanks to dragyn42 for catching the fact that FF wouldn't let one of my words through.

Chapter 8- Confessions

March 1

After whispering the password, Harry leaned his forehead against the door before pushing it open. Catching a glimpse of Ginny's smile before closing the door behind him, the wizard stumbled into the room.

"Gin, I'm so sorry I'm late. It's just that Ron wasn't in our room, which made me think that he found out, but then he didn't kill me—" Harry said in a rush until Ginny's hand covered his mouth.

"Breathe, Harry!" Ginny commanded. Harry took a deep breath. "No, it's fine that you were late. If you had come any earlier, we would have had company," Ginny said with a slight scowl. "But I got rid of that pesky ghost."

"Let me guess, Myrtle was in here." Harry looked around as if expecting Myrtle to come zooming up from one of the stalls at any moment. "She's always around whenever I come in here. I wonder if she has a sensor or something that lets her know when I'm coming." Shaking his head to clear it, he looked over at the redhead perched on the edge of the huge bathtub. "Why did you want to see me?"

"I have to have a reason now?" Ginny asked with one eyebrow arched. She stared at Harry until he started stuttering a response. Then she cut him off. "Harry, I'm just teasing. I did have a reason for asking you here." She pulled in air very slowly before releasing it in a flood of words. "Harry, Iwanttotelleveryoneaboutus."

The words had flowed together in Harry's ears making it difficult for him to differentiate the syllables to understand what she was saying. It didn't help, of course, that he had focused on her lips, which were so tempting and plump. When he saw her catch the bottom one between her teeth, he struggled to form a thought.

"I'm sorry. What?" he replied.

Ginny lifted her eyes to his defiantly. "I think it's time we went public with our relationship." She immediately backed away from him and started to pace. Harry felt a huge grin spread across his face. He leaned his body back against the door to watch his girlfriend. "It's been two weeks since Dean and I broke up. We can just ease people into it by us sitting together and holding hands or something like that. Unless..." A slightly hurt and yet nervous look was on her face when she turned around to face Harry. "you don't want to tell everyone. Wait, you're smiling?"

"Actually, Gin, I was going to talk to you about this very thing." He crossed to her, framing her face with his hands. "I never considered myself to be very possessive about anything, but when it comes to you, I guess everything I thought about myself is turned upside down. I see the looks that the other blokes give you, especially when you aren't looking. I want them to know that you're mine, but by the same token, I want everyone to know that I'm yours," he said, rushing through the last part when her eyes flared at the mention of her being his.

"Really?" she asked, a bright unusual light shining in her eyes.

Harry tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear before answering. "Absolutely. There aren't words to describe how you make me feel, or at least I don't know them. My only concern is Ron and how he'll feel about it. I must admit that it scares me slightly to think that I might lose his friendship over this," Harry confided.

"Harry, I think Ron will surprise you. Several times, it's appeared that Ron was almost throwing me at you, but you never seemed to want to catch me," Ginny said, before lifting up to her toes to gently kiss Harry.

Harry didn't know just how much he believed Ginny, but then again Ron was her brother. He had made the decision to trust her when her lips moved against his, causing passion to flare within him.

* * *

Neville stopped just inside of his dorm room when he caught sight of Ron sitting on the window seat, looking out at the grounds. Wary of what his roommate was up to now, he edged into the room to grab the book that he had needed to retrieve. Ron turned toward him.

"Oh, Neville, it's you." Ron turned back to the window, looking a little lost and forlorn. It was not an expression that Neville would ever have associated with Ron Weasley.

"Ron, are you okay?" Neville was very hesitant about asking this, knowing Ron's temper, but after yesterday's events, he wondered if Hermione or someone else had done something.

"Have you ever noticed how completely beautiful she is?" Ron asked, eyes firmly locked on something outside.

"I can't say that I've ever looked at Hermione quite like that," Neville answered. _Hannah Abbott, well, that's a different story._

Ron continued like Neville hadn't answered him. "Her long dark tresses just make me want to run my fingers through them. Her lips are so plump, begging to be kissed."

"Hermione doesn't have dark hair," Neville said, completely confused by Ron's utterances.

"Hermione? Why would I be talking about Hermione? Romilda is the goddess of my dreams, the princess in my fairy tale," Ron said, reaching a hand out to the glass of the window.

"Romilda! Ron, what in Merlin's name is wrong with you? First, it was Lavender. Then it was Hermione, which is the one I've always thought was for you anyway. Now, it's Romilda. Just yesterday, you were declaring your undying love for Hermione. What happened?" Neville was shocked by this turn of events. He had thought that Ron had finally figured out that he was meant to be with Hermione, much like Harry was meant to be with Ginny. But now, Ron was crushing over Romilda Vane?

Neville looked around the room, wishing and hoping that something could give him a clue into the mind of one Ronald Weasley. A bunch of wrappers lay on the floor surrounding Ron with a heart-shaped box tossed slightly to his right. Neville picked up the box, noticing a card on front. Flipping the parchment up to read, he saw that the box was actually meant for Harry. He placed his hand over his mouth, recalling the warning that Hermione had given Harry weeks before about girls brewing love potions. Although Neville wasn't in Potions this year, he had heard of what the love potions could do. He figured he should get Ron to Professor Slughorn immediately.

* * *

Ginny wanted to sigh when Harry pulled his lips from hers. Refusing to remove her arms from his neck, she looked up at her boyfriend, who had just made her so happy by agreeing to tell everyone about them. His eyes were dark with desire. She had seen them in this state quite a few times now and she thrilled every time to know that she was the reason they were that way. Her teeth pulled at her bottom lip.

As she expected, Harry's hand came up to gently tug her lip out from between her teeth. "That's my lip to bite, not yours." To prove his point, his lips came down on hers. His teeth nibbled at her top lip first before transferring their attention to her bottom one. His hands moved up to frame her face once more. That move always made her feel so precious and cherished. Her fingers moved to twirl the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck when she opened her lips to allow Harry entrance. Tongues danced back and forth. Only stopping for breath, Ginny looked at Harry.

"You know, there's a huge swimming pool right over there," she whispered in his ear.

He pulled back to look at her. "Gin, we don't have swimsuits with us. At least I don't," he responded with a quizzical look on his face. She grinned at him before pulling out of his arms.

"Who needs swimsuits?" she said, reaching around him to bolt the door. Then she turned and walked toward the tub, slipping her robe off her shoulders. Ginny let it slide out of her fingers to the floor, looking back at Harry over her shoulder. "Are you coming?" she asked. She marvelled that she could appear so calm on the outside when on the inside, she was squealing like a little girl when she saw Harry staring there gobsmacked.

Her uniform shirt was the next article of clothing to come off and be tossed aside. She heard rather than saw Harry follow her to the tub. Ginny leaned down at the edge of the pool and turned on a couple of the taps. A pair of bare arms wrapped themselves around her stomach and pulled her flush against him. His hands splayed across her sides before sliding their way across her belly to settle on her hips, slipping under the waistband of her skirt along their path. She reached down and lowered the zipper, allowing the skirt to puddle at her feet.

Their bodies aligned with one another, skin to skin. Judging by the feel of his skin on her back, Harry had lost his shirt as well. His fingers trailed up her arms, curved over her shoulders to lightly trace their way down her sides. Rather than being tickled, Ginny's body flushed with arousal. Her head dropped forward when Harry kissed his way across her shoulder to the nape of her neck. The emotions and sensations running through her body and mind threatened to overwhelm her, which resulted in her slipping out of Harry's embrace.

Keeping her back to him, she deftly unclasped her bra with one hand, letting it follow the same path to the floor that her robe had just a few metres away. Without even stopping to glance back at Harry, Ginny swept her knickers down her legs before diving in the pool of warm water filled with red and gold bubbles. She surfaced by the edge of the pool and turned back to face Harry. Pushing her hair away from her face with one hand while she clung to the side with the other, she looked for Harry where she had left him, only to discover that he wasn't there. She peered into the water around her, automatically suspicious after having grown up with the twins. The bubbles provided an excellent cover to shield Harry's location from her.

That's when she felt it... him slowly kissing his way up her legs. She briefly wondered how he was managing to pull this one off when his lips reached the apex of her thighs and she lost all sense of thought. Both of her hands moved to grip his shoulders as his head broke the surface. While she missed the feel of his tongue against some of her most intimate areas, his slightly callused fingers still created a heat that she was reluctant to try to contain.

Ginny knew that she should probably be doing something with her hands, but her body was only responding to Harry's movements. The inferno that was building within her was threatening to rage out of control when Harry suddenly grasped her hips and thrust into her. A gasp escaped her lips at the feel of Harry moving within her. The ache between her thighs that his lips and fingers had stirred up was finally being fulfilled. She encircled him fully as she moved to the rhythm of each pleasurable thrust. It wasn't long before the heat between the two of them reached its peak and erupted.

Ginny's head rested on Harry's shoulder as he kept both of their heads above the water. With her blood no longer rushing through her veins, Ginny told Harry quietly, "You know, I've never felt this way about anyone else before, right?"

He kissed her cheek before answering, "Just like I've never felt like this about anyone else either."

The sound of the bolt in the door squeaking open startled the two of them. Ginny looked frantically around, trying to figure out what they could use for cover. Deciding that the bubbles were the only line of defence, she broke out of Harry's arms and made sure that her shoulders were well below the line of bubbles that still covered the surface of the tub.

A bushy-haired girl stumbled into the room with toiletries in arm. Her eyes widened when she saw who was occupying the room. "Harry? Ginny?!? What are you two doing in here together?" Her eyes took in the sight of their clothes lying by the edge of the pool. Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' before asking, "Why are you two not wearing any clothes? Anything you need to tell me?"


	9. Chapter 9 Past, Current, and Future

A/N: Only one more chapter to go! Thanks to my beta, Jonelle! Thanks to all who have reviewed and favorited!

Chapter 9- Past Events, Current Feelings, and Future Plans

March 1

Neville gasped for breath after he stumbled through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. Leaning against the wall just to the right of the portrait hole, his eyes wandered around the room before they lit on the three people he was looking for. After he took a second to get his breath back as much as he could, he crossed the room to Harry, Hermione and Ginny. He puzzled for a second over the fact that Ginny was sitting very close to Harry since he thought that Hermione didn't know about the two of them, but he shrugged it off.

"Hospital wing. We need to get to the hospital wing," Neville panted out.

"Why? What's wrong? Who's there?" Hermione asked, standing up in a panic.

Neville just looked at her for a minute before answering. "Ron."

Her eyes got wide and her face paled before she swayed on her feet. Harry immediately shot to her side, supporting Hermione by wrapping an arm around her. Ginny, on the other hand, shot out the portrait hole so fast that Neville barely realized that she had left already.

"Ron is going to be fine now. I'll fill you in on what happened once we get down to the hospital wing. But I only want to tell this story once," Neville reassured them. The three of them made their way down to see Ron.

Ginny was already at his bedside when the trio arrived. With Ron's hand in hers and tears welling in her eyes, Ginny turned to Neville.

"All right, explain, please. What happened to Ron?" Ginny demanded. She looked nervous, yet at the same time, fierce.

Neville shuffled his feet before starting to speak. "I had gone back to the room for a book I needed for my revisions. Ron was sitting in the window seat, looking very strange. He was going on and on about Romilda Vane and how beautiful and perfect she was."

"Do what?" Harry said, spluttering. "After what he did and said to you yesterday?"

"That's it exactly, Harry. I knew that something seriously had to be wrong with Ron. His heart wouldn't have changed that fast—" Neville answered.

"Wait, changed that fast how?" Hermione asked. Both boys looked at each other before Neville caved under her scrutiny.

"Well, it's..."

"It's something that Ron should share if he's going to," Harry said, wisely backing out of Hermione's reach.

Neville cleared his throat. "Anyway, I remembered you, Harry telling me about Hermione warning you that Romilda Vane and some other girls were trying to slip you love potions."

"Excuse me?" Ginny remarked, looking furious. She gazed over at Harry as if to ask silently the veracity of the statement. When he nodded, she started to fume.

"I thought that it might be that Ron had had something with one of those potions in it. That suspicion grew stronger when I saw a box of chocolates with a card written to Harry on the front. Romilda had sent it." Neville looked apologetically toward Ginny.

"Since I'm not in Potions this year, I knew that there was no way that I could brew the antidote. Plus, I had no idea what Ron was planning to do next, but I couldn't let him screw up his chances for happiness any further. So I took him to Professor Slughorn."

"But if he had the antidote, why is he here?" Hermione interjected. "It's a simple potion really."

Neville fidgeted. Taking a deep breath while firmly looking at the ground, he started. "While Professor Slughorn brewed the antidote, he told me some stories about my parents. That led him to offer me some mead, especially when I mentioned that Ron was celebrating his birthday today and what bad luck he had to have for this to happen today of all days.

"The professor and I were toasting when Ron swallowed a gulp down. He had already had the antidote, see, which he had said tasted horrible. I think he wanted whatever he could to get that taste out of his mouth." Neville paused and looked at the three of them. "Something was wrong with the mead. Ron started convulsing. It's the way my grandfather died, the one I saw die. Professor Slughorn panicked, I guess. He just stood there in shock. I remembered about bezoars and thought that there would be one in the professor's potion stores. I found it quickly and shoved it in Ron's mouth, forcing him to swallow. Then I brought him up here, told Madame Pomfrey what happened and left to get you three."

By this point, Hermione had taken up vigil on the other side of Ron from Ginny. Holding his hand much like Ginny, she asked without looking at Neville. "But how did you remember the bezoar?"

"Hermione, I understand the theory and ingredients behind potions since that's for the most part a matter of revision. It's the brewing part that kept me from doing well on my O.W.L. I have problems remembering the directions while I'm brewing and it's not like the professor's attitude toward us Gryffindors helped." He took a deep breath before breathing out, "Snape," here he grimaced, "spoke about bezoars on the very first day of Potions in the questions he asked Harry. I made sure to revise everything in the first year over and over until I could quote it." He shrugged.

Neville was saved from having to answer any other questions by the return of Madam Pomfrey with Professors Dumbledore, Slughorn and Snape. They discussed the possibilities of who might have done this and why.

* * *

Hermione held Ron's hand in both of hers, holding it close to her cheek. She was still holding vigil at Ron's bedside. Regardless of whatever he had done or how small or mad he had made her feel, Hermione knew that she couldn't leave Ron alone in that hospital bed. It didn't matter to her that Ginny had stayed until the evening meal. She resolutely stayed by his bed, even to the point of eschewing her revision work. Early in the vigil, Madam Pomfrey had told the two girls that Ron was to rest as much as possible, which meant that they weren't to bother him. The potions that the matron had given Ron kept him under to the point that Hermione had not even seen him awake yet.

"Oh, Ron, why can you never eat chocolate in moderation? Why did you eat those chocolates? Why didn't you read who they were from? You could have figured it out if only you had bothered to read." She closed her eyes and brought his hand to her lips. "What am I saying? It's not your fault that Romilda Vane is an egotistical, psychotic, insane witch."

Opening her eyes, one hand released his to brush his hair back from his face. A slight smile crossed her face. "If I know your sister, she'll have something planned as payback before tomorrow. Romilda deserves it so even if I see it, I'll deliberately turn a blind eye. In fact, I might offer my services to Ginny tonight."

Gently cupping his cheek, tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about how close she came to losing him today. "Oh, this is all my fault. If only I had talked to you at breakfast, instead of storming away, then you would never have been there to eat those darn chocolates." Wiping her eyes with her free hand, she continued. "I just couldn't sit there and talk to you without wanting to tell you everything. We haven't talked in so long, but even before Lavender came into the picture, I never talked to you like I should have. I was too scared to let you know how much I care about you. I knew that it would scare you off and then I wouldn't even have your friendship anymore. I didn't think that I could survive here without at least your friendship. But having been without you these past months, I can't keep it inside." She let a small grunt at herself. "Even though I can only say this while you're asleep, Ron," her voice reduced to a whisper. "I love you."

She tucked his hand against her cheek, revelling in the rough feel of it. At that moment, Madame Pomfrey entered the hospital wing back from her evening meal.

"Miss Granger, it's time for you to go. You need to eat something before bed. Mr. Weasley will be fine. You can come see him in the morning," the nurse told the young witch gently, yet firmly.

Hermione nodded before lowering Ron's hand to the bed softly. She leaned over to drop a kiss on Ron's cheek before leaving the room. Since she didn't bother to look back, she didn't see two bright blue eyes pop open and Ron's hand reach up to the spot where she kissed him.

* * *

Ginny carefully slipped Harry's Invisibility Cloak over her head. Her wand firmly gripped in her hand, she whispered "_Lumos_" before unfolding the Marauder's Map. Harry was in his bed asleep, completely unaware of what she was about to do and that's exactly how she wanted it to stay. Glancing at the map reassuring herself that he was still there, she crept down the Gryffindor girls' stairs to the room one below hers.

Knowing that Romilda would have kept more of the potion in case her first attempt didn't work, Ginny searched her room while under Harry's cloak. The occupants of the room were all asleep and did not hear Ginny's exploring of everything in the vicinity of Romilda's bed. It wasn't until Ginny investigated the other girl's wardrobe that she found what she was looking for. Disgusted by the fact that the younger witch kept the potion vial in her lingerie drawer of her wardrobe, Ginny gingerly picked up the vial. Even though she thought about casting a Cleaning Charm, she slipped the vial into her robe pocket.

Ginny quickly scampered down the stairs, thinking that everyone was surely upstairs in their rooms asleep. Yet, when she went to open the portrait hole, a voice behind her spoke up.

"You know, you really should cast a _Muffliato_ on your feet when you go down the stairs under that cloak, Ginny," Hermione said, rising from the couch in front of the fire. "If I know you, you're on your way to do something to get Romilda Vane back." Without waiting for confirmation, Hermione trudged on. "Would you like some help?"

Ginny was completely taken aback. "Are you sure you're Hermione Granger? Gryffindor prefect? Are you sure that you want to help?"

Hermione's face hardened as she answered. "Absolutely. That egotistical witch deserves to be taken down a peg or two. She needs to learn not to mess with our brothers."

"Hermione, you don't really think of Ron as your brother, do you?" Ginny asked warily.

"No, I do think of Harry that way," Hermione responded with a lift of an eyebrow.

"Well, then, absolutely I would love help," Ginny asserted. She went on to explain her plan. Hermione offered a minor tweak to it before the two made their way to the kitchens to ask Dobby for help.

It was rather late when the two fell into their beds, but not before setting their alarms to go off very early. They didn't want to miss the show that they were sure would occur at breakfast the next morning.


	10. Chapter 10 Full Circle

A/N: This is it, folks! The last chapter. I can't believe I finally finished this one. Many thanks goes to Jonelle, my fabulous beta, as she's helped me through this one all the way through. Thanks also to Manda, who's let me bounce ideas off her once or twice for this. Thanks to all who have alerted, favorited and reviewed. You really make my day with that. I hope this lives up to expectations. Thanks again!

Chapter 10- Full Circle

March 2

Harry paused at the bottom of the boys' staircase to let his eyes sweep around the room, looking for his girlfriend or his best friend. Seeing no telltale sign of Weasley red hair or the bushy brown that belonged to Hermione, Harry decided to wait for five minutes on one of the couches. Demelza Robins called out to Harry.

"Are you looking for Hermione, Harry?"

"Yes, actually," Harry answered with a nod.

"She already left with Ginny for breakfast," Demelza told him.

Harry made his way down to the Great Hall, wondering why his best friend and girlfriend hadn't bothered to wait for him. Still, his eyes brightened once they landed on Ginny. Crossing to sit beside her, he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Good morning, Gin. Morning, Hermione," Harry stated. Once he was seated, he began filling his plate with his traditional breakfast. He poured himself some pumpkin juice before asking the two girls, "So what was the hurry to get to breakfast that you couldn't wait for me?"

Hermione and Ginny shared a guarded look before Ginny answered, laying a hand on Harry's thigh, "Nothing really." Her hand began to inch its way closer to his groin, causing him to jump and look around to make sure no one saw that. He lifted her hand up and gripped it in his, holding it against his knee.

A flurry of whispers started up the moment that Romilda Vane walked into the Great Hall. Hermione and Ginny had smiles on their faces that resembled cats eating canaries. Harry, completely oblivious to all of this, continued eating while surreptitiously scanning the Marauder's Map for Malfoy. Ginny leaned over to whisper.

"If you're looking for Malfoy, he's sitting right over there." She subtly pointed him out to Harry. It was then that Harry realized that Ginny and Hermione had both chosen to sit facing the other tables. Normally they sat facing each other, but today they were sitting side by side. He wondered what was up.

Harry hadn't been aware of the twittering going on after Romilda's entrance until Malfoy stood up and strode over to kneel beside Romilda's seat. The blond Slytherin tried to take her hand, but she shrunk back from him.

"Romilda, sweet Romilda. Please, say you'll be mine. What am I saying? Of course, you'll be mine, for no one could love you more," Draco stated before being pushed out of the way by Millicent Bulstrode.

"No one could love Romy more than me!" Millicent shouted at Draco, who had gone sprawling across the floor.

Romilda's face showed shock with her eyes wide and her mouth slack. She slid down the bench closer toward the end where the trio was sitting. Several other Slytherins started to head toward the Gryffindor table, causing Romilda to slide further down the bench. When she ran into Dean Thomas, he, knowing what she had done to Ron, pushed her off of him and back toward the crowd of green-edged robes. She fell off the bench in her haste to try to leave. Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott rushed to her aid. Romilda stumbled backward, the soles of her shoes unable to grip anything to allow her to get up on her feet. Finally, the young Gryffindor took to her feet and fairly flew out of the Great Hall. Almost the entire Slytherin table ran after her, with dreamy looks on their faces calling her name and pleading with her to wait for them.

After a few moments of shocked silence, the majority of the student body that was left in the hall were roaring with laughter. Harry turned toward Hermione and Ginny, whose laughter was overflowing. He narrowed his eyes to look suspiciously at the two of them.

"Do you two ladies have any explanations on what exactly took place here?" Harry crossed his arms. The two girls struggled to contain their laughter. After several moments, they looked at each other before answering Harry together.

"Live by the potion, die by the potion."

* * *

Ron had spent most of the night planning out what he wanted to say to Hermione. Now the only rub was getting her alone. Shortly after breakfast with Madame Pomfrey, Ron heard voices outside the door and quickly shut his eyes in an effort to fake sleep in case it was his friends. He thought he had a way that might get Hermione by herself.

Sounds of feet running past the hospital wing filled the room as the door opened. Voices could be heard screaming "Romilda!" Ron didn't know what to think of that, but tried to regulate his breathing to simulate sleep.

He heard the footsteps of his friends and sister make their way to his bedside.

"Darn! He's still asleep. Don't you think he would have woken up by now?" Ginny said plaintively.

"Gin, he was poisoned. I think we should give him a little leeway here, don't you think?" Harry responded. _Since when does Harry call Ginny 'Gin' and since when does she let him?_

All thoughts about Harry and Ginny fled when soft skin gently lifted his hand, enveloping it. With the electric feel, he knew instantly that it was Hermione. He had to fight with himself to not open his eyes and give himself away. Ron allowed himself to fantasize about Hermione's hands running over his body. Those images were causing him to become aroused. Pitching a tent in the hospital bed would not be a good idea. Immediately he forced thoughts of things like Snape in Neville's grandmother's clothes, which promptly deflated anything that has been on the rise.

Coming to a decision about a way to ensure that Hermione would stay behind when Harry and Ginny left, he promptly let out a small moan and murmured "Hermione." Her hand tightened around his at the sound of her name on his lips.

Harry's voice seemed to drone in Ron's ears. Nothing being said registered in Ron's brain, not even the sounds of two sets of footsteps leaving the wing. It wasn't until lips touched his cheek that his brain finally came to life.

Not wanting to startle Hermione, he waited until she had eased back to sit in the chair beside him before slowly opening his eyes.

"Hi," he said softly. Her face softened and a smile spread slowly across her face. In his eyes, she had never looked more beautiful.

"Hi," she responded sheepishly, averting her eyes to study the white cloth below their hands. She tried to pull her hand away, but Ron just flipped his over to grip hers firmly.

Ron wished with all his heart that he could hear the internal dialogue that he knew had to be running through Hermione's mind at the moment. An uncomfortable silence stretched over the couple.

"Um, how are you feeling?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Ron shrugged. "I'm not sure that I'm feeling much of anything. Madam Pomfrey keeps giving me potions, which keep me kind of numb. How are you?"

"You're the one in the hospital wing, but you ask me how I am?" Hermione said wryly. "I'm fine, Ron. Slightly worried about the fact that my two best friends end up in the hospital wing a lot, but overall, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked her, truly taking her appearance now. Dark circles were etched in the skin under her eyes. Her head lolled forward as if she wanted nothing more than to drop it onto the side of the bed and into sleep. Even though he was used to her running herself down, this was the most tired he had ever seen her.

When she heard that phrase, her back stiffened and her eyes shot to his. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You look tired. That's all I'm saying," Ron said, trying to reassure Hermione that he wasn't intimating anything else.

"Well, so would you if you stayed up all night," she muttered. Then, as if realizing she had said that aloud, she clapped her hand over her mouth.

"Why were you up all night?" Ron asked. He was worried that something had happened to her.

"I don't know, Ron, maybe I was just a little worried about you," Hermione said rather caustically. She tried to pull her hand away from his again, but he gripped hers tighter.

"You were worried about me?" Ron queried.

"Of course I was. You hadn't woken up and even though Madam Pomfrey said you would be okay, I needed to see you awake to believe it," she answered.

Another stretch of silence ensued.

Hermione's voice, small and low, broke it. "I'm sorry."

Ron was puzzled. _What did she have to be sorry for?_ So he decided to ask her. "What for?"

"How I've treated you since Valentine's Day, how I treated you yesterday morning on your birthday, for not listening to you. Lots of things really." She ran the fingers of her free hand over the back of his closest hand.

"Well, if you're going to apologize for that, then I guess I better apologize for kissing you," Ron stated before vehemently shaking his head. "No, wait, I'm not going to apologize for that. Because I'm not sorry. I am sorry, however, that I did not break up with Lavender before I kissed you though. It was rather impulsive of me, I know."

"I just don't get how you can be so impulsive and yet be the best tactician in chess I've ever seen," Hermione said, frustrated.

"When it comes to moves on the chessboard, I know what I'm doing; with you, not so much," Ron replied. "I'm scared that I'll lose my queen. Sure, I can win without her, but it's much easier to win with her skills and abilities."

"Leave it to you to create a chess analogy," Hermione said, her eyes going wide once the implications of the words hit her. "Wait, your queen? I'm your queen?"

"I want you to be," Ron answered firmly, taking his Gryffindor courage up and holding it tight. "I've wanted you to be since second year."

"Are you serious?" Hermione questioned rhetorically. Her mouth, which had been agape, snapped closed. "If that's the case, then why did you start dating Lavender?"

Ron started to fidget in the bed. He took a deep breath before admitting, "I was jealous."

"Of what?" Hermione asked.

"Don't you mean of whom?" Ron responded. "Viktor Krum."

"But why? I mean, all we did was go to the dance together," Hermione replied.

"So you didn't kiss him?" Ron said sarcastically. He was totally amazed when she responded honestly with a "no." Knowing Hermione and how to tell if she was lying, Ron knew that she was telling him the truth when she said that she hadn't kissed Krum. He almost missed her next words.

"Our kiss on Valentine's Day was my first kiss," she admitted, cheeks aflame.

"I was Hermione's first kiss?" Ron repeated to himself. "But what about the rumours of you and Krum?"

"Parvati started them. I just never bothered to correct people who said it because I didn't think it mattered."

"But it did matter. I would never have snogged Lavender if I had known you hadn't kissed Krum."

"What?" Hermione was confused. Ron explained what had happened when he and Harry had come across Ginny and Dean. He wasn't sure what caused that look to cross Hermione's face, but it normally meant that she had figured something out.

"So will you?" Ron asked her.

"Will I what?" Hermione answered, tilting her head.

"Be my queen?"

"Always."

* * *

Hermione relished the feel of Ron's arm thrown over her shoulder. She was so pleased that Madam Pomfrey had felt he was well enough to venture down to the Great Hall for the evening meal. However, Ron was still a little shaky on his feet so Hermione was more than happy to help him.

As they were turning the corner on one of the landings, they saw the staircase start to move. She heard Ron curse under his breath, knowing that it would take them longer to make their way down now. Seeing the sheen of sweat shimmer on his forehead, she thought it might be best if they rested a moment. Hermione took her wand from her pocket and conjured a chair for Ron to sit in. Ron's arm slipped from around her neck as he slid into the chair. She rotated her head in a circle before rolling her shoulders to get some of the tension out that had formed while she had supported Ron.

A large hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged. She tumbled down into Ron's lap. Her hands flew up to grip his shoulders as she tried to steady herself in his lap.

"Sorry. You were too far away," Ron said, his lips brushing over her hair.

"Ron, I was no more than 5 metres away from you," Hermione stated, laughing.

"See, too far!"

He pulled her close and captured her lips with his. Hermione got lost in his embrace. It wasn't until the clamouring of feet rushing past broke through that she pulled away from Ron. Turning her head, she saw the back of whom she thought must be Romilda Vane rushing into the loo, still being chased by several Slytherins.

"I don't know why she thinks a loo will be an effective escape. Some girls are chasing her too," Hermione commented with a giggle. She placed her hand over her mouth to try to stop the laughter that was welling within her. Several giggles couldn't be contained. Ron just looked at her, uncertain as to why she was laughing.

The creak of the staircase settling back into place signalled that they could continue their journey. Hermione helped Ron stand and placed his arm across her shoulders. Together they managed to traverse the stairs and settle at the end of the Gryffindor table. It was still early so most students hadn't made it into the hall yet for the meal. Still, Hermione was shocked when Ron grabbed her hand to tuck it close to his side. They hadn't discussed whether or not they were going to tell everyone about them. Yet, it looked like Ron was all for revealing everything.

She and Ron sat eating and chatting. Both heads turned when they heard Harry's voice drifting over the chatter of the other students. Once Hermione caught sight of Harry and Ginny strolling over to the Gryffindor table hand-in-hand, she immediately turned to Ron to catch his reaction since she knew that this was what Harry was most worried about. A huge grin covered his face at the sight.

"Are you really okay with this?" she wondered aloud.

"Why wouldn't I be? He's my best mate. She's my little sister. If I can't trust them with each other, who could I trust with them?" he answered.

"But you've been so overprotective of Ginny. Harry was so worried about how you would react," Hermione responded.

"I was overprotective of Ginny with the other guys because they weren't Harry. Ever since the end of her first year when he saved her, I've thought that they were meant to be together. I just didn't want her doing anything with those other guys that she might wish later she had only done with Harry."

Hermione was astounded at this revelation. She turned to her boyfriend and threw her arms around him.

"Wow! I didn't know you had it in you," Hermione said before pulling back to resume her eating. By this point, Harry and Ginny had joined them at the table. After Harry had seated himself across from Hermione, he and Ginny started a routine that almost looked practiced. He divvied out the food for them both while Ginny poured their juice into their goblets. Ron just turned to Hermione and raised an eyebrow. She took it to mean, _See? Perfect for each other!_

In an amused voice, Ron addressed the two of them. "Is there anything the two of you would like to share with me?"

"It's great seeing you out of the hospital wing, Ron," Ginny said. Tapping her finger against her chin, she turned to Harry. "Wasn't there something we were meaning to tell Ron, but couldn't because he landed himself in a bed with Madam Pomfrey hovering nearby?"

Harry grinned before playing along. "You know, I think there was, but for the life of me, I can't remember. Was it something to do with Quidditch?"

Before they could continue their banter, the door to the Great Hall banged open. Romilda rushed through it, heading for the head table. Crabbe and Goyle lumbered behind her.

"Oh, Romy, just let us protect you. You're so beautiful," Crabbe said in a rather high-pitched voice.

Ginny turned to Harry, whispering, "I've never heard his voice before. That's scary."

"We're more than willing to share, Romy," Goyle pleaded.

"You know, I didn't realize he could talk before," Hermione said, shaking her head. The four of them just watched as Romilda ran up behind the head table, trying to use the table to get away from the two huge Slytherins. She crouched behind Professor McGonagall's empty chair. Professor Snape stood up to stop his two students from approaching the Gryffindor girl.

"Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, why do you insist on pestering this," he sneered at Romilda, "Gryffindor? Surely you have _better_ things to do than chase a Gryffindor?"

"But Professor Snape, she's beautiful and, and, and" both boys stammered. Snape stepped between them to turn to face their backs. He reached up and slapped the back of their heads.

"Please, show some control. Really! One would think you were a Hufflepuff with the way you're behaving," Snape snapped. He grabbed both by their collars and led them out of the hall.

Ron's eyes were wide when Hermione stopped laughing. She wondered what was running through his head.

"Did I miss something?" Ron asked. "Why is it that those two goons are fawning all over Romilda?"

Harry laughed and related what he had seen that morning at breakfast. Both guys turned to their respective girlfriends.

"You know, this has Ginny's fingerprints all over it," Ron said, looking between the two girls.

"Oh, I don't know," Harry said. "Ginny's very good at pranks and all, but just something about this has a distinct Hermione feel to it. Do you think there's a way to get them to admit it?"

"Normally I would suggest a good tickle charm, but I think we might have graduated above that now," Ron said, pondering what they could do. "I wonder if we kissed them into submission if they would reveal all."

"I thought it was withholding kisses that would get us answers, not actually kissing them," Harry said. The two witches giggled at the thoughts being bandied about by their men.

After a few more minutes of banter between the two wizards, Ron turned to Ginny and did his best to wheedle out of her what was going on. Hermione was very content to let the two of them discuss it as she knew that Ron would be able to get it out of her if he tried. She was somewhat surprised when Harry leaned over the table to talk to her.

"Hermione, you realize, don't you," he pointed between Ron and Hermione before Ginny and himself, "that this would never have happened if you hadn't read that book about customs."

"Oh, I think it would have happened, Harry. Just maybe not this soon and not in this way," she answered. She shrugged. "We'll never know how things could have been if there had been no Kissing Friday in our lives this year."


End file.
